A recently discovered species of caterpillar has at least a sense of macabre fashion.
It looks like the plot of a horror movie: a carnivorous and cannibal caterpillar hidden in the shadows of a spider web and dressed in the remains of his old prey.
Was found on the Hawaiian Island of O’Ahu, and is unlike everything What scientists saw before.
The new species of caterpillar not only lives in a strangely precarious environment, suspended between webs inside tree cavities, rock cracks and fallen trunks, as it is Carnivorous. And after finishing your feast, it uses the remains of the bodies of your prey as camouflage.
Nicknamed ‘bone collector’ by the investigators who discovered her, this bizarre insect is a rare exception in the world of insects. Of about 200,000 known species of moths and butterflies, Only 0.1% are carnivorous.
The “extremely rare” discovery, which was presented in a published last week in the magazine Science DirectIt took 20 years to realize and surprised everyone involved.
“It’s not just unexpected, it’s unimaginable“, it says And Rubinoffresearcher at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, and the main author of the study, quoted by. “This caterpillar was not in anyone’s radar. We arrived at so many alternative explanations for what was happening.”
The new species belongs to the genre Hyposmocomaan old and diverse group found only in Hawaii. They are extremely rare: Only 62 caterpillars Hyposmocoma They were observed in the field in the last 20 years.
“The carnivory is exceptionally rare in caterpillars,” he tells the ecologist and entomologist at the University of Gloucestershire Adam Hartwhich did not participate in the study. “In fact, it is only known in a group of species in Hawaii.”
This new species Survive through necrophagy: It feeds on weak or dead insects that are trapped in cobwebs, chewing the silk if necessary to reach their meal.
As it drags its silk cocoon (the outer layer that protects it before turning into a moth) through the sticky strands, pieces of exoskeleton and insect limbs accumulate, creating a macabre but effective disguise.
The investigators identified parts of bodies of more than six species different from insects linked to these caterpillars. But this is not a random collection – it is artistically organized.
“The body parts are carefully measures Before the caterpillar weaves them in their collection, ”wrote the study’s authors.
The parts are rounds to fit betterand too large pieces are chewed to the proper size before being sewn. Result: a costume chilling but deliberate armormade from the corpses of their prey.
“Many caterpillars have amazing camouflage, but it tends to be ‘incorporated’ in the way they seem and behave,” says Hart. “Using the environment as a camouflage in this way is uncommon, but not unprecedented in moths. Psychidae moth caterpillars build cocoons from environmental material in this way, for example.”
Despite its strange lifestyle, this species It has been around for a long time – Possibly there is six million yearswhich is more than twice the age of O’Ahu Island itself.
