I don't know if you have ever heard of "insect alien saying"?
This statement probably means that insects may come from aliens.
Why? The scientists who made this point of view judged it like this:
First of all, the oldest insect fossils found by humans are 370 million years old, and then the insect fossils found are 70 million years later in the "Carboniferous Period" (359 million years ago - 299 million years ago). Didn't find a fossil from this intermediate period? Yes, there is none. Then this fault is very weird
The New York Times' report on the oldest insect fossils
Second, scientists have found that what is the difference between the appearance of modern insects and the appearance of carboniferous insect fossils? Apart from the difference in size, there are almost no particularly large changes. Have insects not evolved in the course of hundreds of millions of years?
Hundreds of millions of years of historical faults, hundreds of millions of years of "no change", these kinds of strange places have made scientists think a lot. Two professors from Cardiff University in the United Kingdom have proposed a very famous hypothesis: "the origin of the universe of insects".
They believe that insects come from alien planets, and that their eggs or parts of their genes were transported to Earth through meteorites or comets, and later adapted to Earth's environment and made their home on Earth.
People have cited various "alien" manifestations of insects: exoskeletons, countless eyes, respirator tubes that are not necessarily on the head, complete perversion...
Wait, totally perverted? It's not what you think it is! From eggs to caterpillars to broken cocoons into butterflies, it belongs to the complete metamorphosis of biology. And this weirdness is finally linked to the protagonist of this article!
Maomao...... insect?
The larvae of lepidoptera such as butterflies and moths are called caterpillars, and the appearance of these lepidopteran insects is very strange, and the appearance of caterpillars is also very personal. They don't just have a gray or green camouflage appearance... How to say, like the guests in the Met Gala, how to get eyeballs and how to come.
Flannel caterpillar, doesn't it look like it's been "washed and cut blown"? This veritable caterpillar is mainly found in the Americas, especially North America.
GBIF shows where it is distributed
Because some of them looked like wigs, especially like the hair of this celebrity, they were given a nickname:
Trump Caterpillar!
This caterpillar is very toxic and is said to be one of the most dangerous insects in North America, whether it is stung by them or scratched by the barbs on their hair, it may cause various poisoning reactions, and in severe cases, shock.
Leafless noctuidae (fruit perforated moth) Larvae of Fruit-piercing Moth
Doesn't look like a big lady in a sequined blue velvet dress?! This color is really strange, and it actually gives us a matte velvet feeling. However, deciduous leaf moths are not beneficial insects, and listening to their aliases, you know that they want to plague fruits.
feed! What did you eat by just biting the fruit into a hole?
The larvae of the Butterfly, Black Swallowtail Caterpillar
The markings on the body are very regular and distinct, and there are fluorescent touches on the head, ah no, this is called the ya gland (also called the stink horn gland), although this is used to scare off the enemy, but how to look a little soft and cute.
The first few caterpillars have grown up to be moths, this one has grown up like This, this flower butterfly shape, is completely the model of the Met Gala guest.
Cecropia Moth Caterpillar, a larvae of the kerlops silkworm moth (Robin moth).
Cactus-like Dunkirk, no, KGB, oh, I gave up... Robin Moth's cubs are not quite intimidating! Just sent the encyclopedia jun to a friend to see, the friend on the spot black! In fact, this color bar, I want to say, is still quite jelly color is it, is not like a real insect.
This crystal clear caterpillar grows up to become the largest moth in North America, with a wingspan of up to 15 cm, how big is it? It's almost a slap in the face.
Silver moon leopard butterfly Spicebush swallowtail larvae
This, Encyclopedia Jun dares to say, many friends who are afraid of insects will feel at first glance "This is too cute!" ", this pair of cute big eyes and ears, like a small squirrel? This eye-like pattern is actually used to deter natural enemies such as birds, but Bai Kejun feels that perhaps natural enemies are "cute".
Silver Moon Leopard Butterfly can be said to have saved the insect world in the previous life, so cute when he was a child, and when he grew up, he was also a flower, after all, it was the Butterfly family.
This proper caterpillar world dance queen ah ~ encyclopedia Jun checked for half a day, stunned is not found their Chinese name what, in English they belong to saturniidae Moth silkworm moth family (large silkworm moth family), this family has about 2300 species, the larvae are large and large, have such flesh thorns.
This spiny caterpillar is a larvae called the Walter Cup Moth moth, which grows up to be really unremarkable ↓
When I was a child, I looked very bad. This magical color caterpillar is only found in Australia!
Ghosthead Hawk Moth, isn't it scary to hear the name? But the actual appearance is our common gray fluttering moth
Their larvae are far less unpleasant than adults seem, but chubby and cute.
There are currently 46 known lepidopterans on Earth, 126 families and more than 180,000 species, making it the second largest order in the insect order. Looking at the above kinds, Encyclopedia Jun thinks that they and their larvae may really grow beyond our human imagination, perhaps, really from outer space?
Figure 丨 According to the network
Wen 丨 searched for encyclopedia Jun
If you like interesting science, follow us! For more interesting and relaxing content, please pay attention to Sina Weibo "Search Encyclopedia Soloot"