fossilesquethe mad hatter
watersnipjeThat doesn’t make sense, caterpillars don’t mate. So why have a display like this? Or does this scare off predators somehow?
But why undertake this elaborate millinery? One study published in 2016 investigated this question by holding trials involving the caterpillars and their natural predators — spiders and stink bugs. The researchers found that attacks on larvae with a stack of headcases took more than 10 times longer than attacks on larvae that had had their stack removed. They found that the empty head capsules acted as a false target for predators and could also be used to deflect the piercing rostrum of a predator.
Oh really cool, thank you!