posted on Jul, 20 2010 @ 03:42 AM
reply to post by Phage
Phage
The world is full of interesting creatures which boggle the mind sometimes....
Further to your Ambush Caterpillar/ lavae I have also read that there is another Caterpillar, native to Maui called Hyposmocoma molluscivora.
It derives it's name in recognition of its status as the first known species to hunt molluscs.
It is a FLESH-EATING caterpillar that uses spider-like silk to trap snails before devouring them alive has been found in Hawaii.
Once the larvae, which develop into moths, have tied the snails to leaves, they climb inside their shells to feast on the soft tissue.
Caterpillars are the larval stage of insects from the order Lepidoptera, which include butterflies and moths. The majority of these insects are
herbivores: an estimated 150,000 Lepidoptera species are known to science, and only about 200 are predators or parasites. All caterpillars have glands
capable of producing silk — the silkworm is a kind of caterpillar that will eventually grow into a moth — but none has previously been found to
use it in similar fashion to spiders. The Hyposmocoma molluscivora caterpillar is about 8mm (0.3in) in length and uses its sticky silk to build a case
that serves as camouflage and protection.
Finally..
STRANGE SPECIES
-At least 18 Eupithecia genus caterpillars are carnivorous and ambush prey, their tail looping back to seize it in one twelfth of a second
-Most damselfly young, called nymphs, are aquatic. Hawaii has a species whose nymphs live on land
-Many Hawaiian spider species have abandoned web-spinning, either seizing prey or, like Doryonychus raptor, impaling it in mid-flight
I observing the behaviour ad actions of insects but even I am still scared (a little) with spiders...!!
Regards
PurpleDOG UK