There is no more amazing guy than the caterpillar, they look sluggish, fat, seem to have the only goal is to keep eating, in fact, under their low-key appearance is brewing a great dream of vacating. As the all-over green caterpillar waved its seemingly sharp black fur in front of me, I knew it was warning me not to stop it from running into the sky.
Caterpillar sky
Written, Photographed by Tang Zhiyuan Executive/ Feng Xin
Black-veined butterfly caterpillar in late autumn
Climb down trees before the onset of severe winter
Hide in the leaflet layer
Until the following spring, the tree re-sprouts
They endure loneliness and cold
Life goes on
Love at the next stop
< h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > fall in love with caterpillars</h1>
By chance, a friend was on a business trip and kept his baby in my house, and he mysteriously opened the box with a full face, and several pimples of small caterpillars appeared in front of him. I looked embarrassed, but looking at my friend's begging face, I knew I couldn't refuse. So I became the babysitter for these little guys. But they really don't have to worry too much, I just have to clean the box every day, and then put in fresh leaves, they just keep eating, the change is very big, the body grows up rapidly.
Before long, there were a few more cocoons in the box, and I hung the cocoons on the window screen according to my friend's instructions. About a week later, in the early morning, the scene on the window screen stunned me a little—it was a beautiful big guy, with pink-green wings, an elegant tail protrusion—and I couldn't believe it was the little caterpillar that had once disgusted me. With a gentle touch, it flew up, flapping its huge pink-green wings in the direction of the sun, still graceful. That beautiful picture still makes me remember and move, and it has completely changed my view of caterpillars since then.
Beautiful green-tailed silkworm moth.
△ It is difficult to associate the beautiful green-tailed silkworm moth with the "ugly" caterpillar, like the story of the ugly duckling turning into a swan, and this prayer-like caterpillar is the larva of the green-tailed silkworm moth.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > look for "her" thousands of baidu</h1>
Caterpillars are very weak, and most of the time they lie on the branches and make large leaves. Compared with other forms, caterpillars are more vulnerable at this stage, usually the egg stage and pupal stage have a relatively good mimic and protective color, and can remain motionless for a period of time, and they can spread their wings and fly in the adult stage, effectively avoiding predators. In the larval stage, they need to crawl for fatter leaves, and their chubby bodies have long been coveted by birds and some small mammals. The caterpillar has no well-developed limbs, so it is impossible for it to escape quickly; the caterpillar has no sharp teeth, so it cannot calmly meet the enemy, perhaps it has such courage, but it is really powerless.
Silkworm larvae are master shapeshifters, and usually they straighten their bodies like branches and remain motionless.
When frightened, the silkworm larvae will suddenly swell their bodies, and the false eye spots on the front chest will look intimidating.
We can use words, looks, or even a look to express anger and intimidate our opponents. What about that little caterpillar? In fact, we don't have to worry too much, caterpillars have their own set of methods. Unable to fight, unable to run, the little caterpillar chose to turn his opponent away. Most caterpillars have a body color close to their surroundings, so most of the caterpillars we can see are as green as leaves. Some caterpillars even have different color types, the summer generation is mostly green, and when the leaves become red in the autumn, the new generation has more red larvae, which is very interesting.
Flat thorn moth (left), boat moth (right).
Acacia palm boat moth (left), green-banded kingfisher (right).
Oak-backed boat moth (left), Arithyville moth (right).
Walnut boat moth (left), blue-eyed moth (right).
Black-tailed boat moth (left), silkworm (right).
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > to eat, "people" have the top priority</h1>
How important is it to eat? For the life of the caterpillar, it has the responsibility of building a future flight energy bank. In particular, the mouth organs of some adult moths have been degraded, their adults no longer eat, and the eggs bred by adults and the energy required to be consumed depend on the accumulation of the larval stage.
In addition to the popular taste of a few species of caterpillars, such as the dancing moth caterpillar can eat hundreds of plants, most caterpillars, especially butterflies, are extremely harsh picky eaters, in addition to specific plants, no matter how delicious they are not to look at.
The larvae of the locust palm boat moth eat "old clothes" every time they molt to replenish calcium, which is also the behavior of most caterpillars.
Oak palm boat moth larvae will live in groups as children, and when they grow up, they will begin to act separately as the amount of food increases.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > can grow up without love</h1>
Not to mention love, loneliness is almost synonymous with caterpillar life. Without the care of parents and sisters, caterpillars grow up bravely and healthily. For the life of a butterfly or moth, the caterpillar stage is the puberty period of their growth.
Most caterpillars are solitary, and even if they live together as children, the older caterpillars will scatter. Too dense often leads to a lack of food, and it can also be hit by the extinction of parasitic insects. However, there are also some caterpillars that prefer group activities, and the moon-building moth is a relatively rare group life caterpillar.
Cocoon bee larvae drilled the peach six-point moth into a thousand holes, and they weave cocoons on the poor caterpillar.
In late autumn, the black-veined butterfly caterpillars climb down the trees before the harsh winter comes, hiding in the deciduous layer until the next spring when the trees re-sprout, they endure loneliness and cold, life goes on, and love is at the next stop.
The larvae of the striated moth are constantly shaking their bodies, trying to get rid of the flies, but all this seems to be of no use.
The green-banded butterfly larvae become the meal of the bug, and it will never see the beautiful pair of wings.
△ When the boat moth encounters predators, it will suddenly its body, revealing shiny blue metal patches at both ends of the forefoot, two pairs of pectoral feet like the mouth and feet of a bird, and the open red mouth organ is like the crown of a bird, and it is difficult for us to associate such a face with a weak caterpillar.
>> End <<
Brilliant typography presentation
This article is excerpted from the April 2007 issue of Civilization
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