A carnivorous genre of the caterpillar was discovered on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. He moves around the cobwebs, feeding on imprisoned insects. She was called a “bone collector” because she is camouflaged in front of spiders that would like to eat her, “dressing” in the remains of dead insects.
As scientists from the Hawaiian university of Hawaii at Manoa wrote, the caterpillar moves around the spider networks, feeding on imprisoned insects such as ants, beetles, flies. According to experts, he is running because he camouflages the spider, which he would love to eat it. What is her strategy? The caterpillar “dresses” in the remains of the bodies of the spider's victims, thanks to which he is not able to recognize and eat it. The article on this subject was published on Thursday, 24.04 in “Science”. The caterpillar as a result of pupation becomes a butterfly belonging to the genus HyPosmocoma.
Gąsienice camouflage to survive
According to Daniel Rubinoff, entomologist and main author of the study, he is the only world known in the world who lives with spiders and benefits them. Although her behavior seems macabre, this is an example of adaptation to life and an attempt to survive.
“They have to camouflage to stay alive in the spider network,” said Rubinoff. – They live “in the Lion Cave”, hide from the spider and use its cobweb to ensure food and probably shelter – he explained.
Caterpillars eat weakened or dead insects that they encounter in spinning networks by spiders. “They probably get leftovers after what the spider ate,” said Rubinoff. “They even resort to cannibalism, attacking other caterpillars of the same species,” he added.
“Bone collector” is the nickname of a serial killer from Jeffer's novel by the same title. The book was published in 1997 and based on it was made in 1999. So how did the caterpillar gain this nickname? – I think this term simply suits what he does. This term is a bit with a grain of salt, because the arthropods, which the caterpillar and spiders feed, do not really have bones, “said Rubinoff.
In the article, the researchers wrote that the habitat of the caterpillar is the island of Oahu, and more precisely a patch of a mountain forest with an area of only 15 square kilometers in the Waianae mountain band. Rubinoff said that the future of the caterpillar is very uncertain. During two decades of field research, only 62 individuals were observed.
Carnivorous caterpillar
As researchers write, the vast majority of caterpillars feed on plants. Around the world, carnivorous caterpillars make up less than 0.13 percent of almost 200,000 species of dark and butterflies. And among them the “bone collector” is the only known caterpillar who finds food in this way. This makes her special among animals.
“The better we understand how the world around us works, the better we will come out on it,” Rubinoff emphasized.
Reuters, AP News, Science.org
Source of the main photo: Science magazine/x