this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2024
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Science Memes

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the mad hatter (mander.xyz)
submitted 4 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

That doesn’t make sense, caterpillars don’t mate. So why have a display like this? Or does this scare off predators somehow?

[–] [email protected] 41 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

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.

https://www.livescience.com/animals/moths/gum-leaf-skeletonizer-the-venomous-mad-hatterpillar-that-wears-its-old-heads-like-a-crown

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 weeks ago

That was my first guess, false target. Like a lizard that loses the tail, only less involved. Evolution ends up with odd solutions, but if it helps favor a trait by leading to survival, it's good enough. It could have just as easily been as someone else suggested, something that was passed on but not selected against either. Not all evolved things have to do with survival, some just are there.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

Oh really cool, thank you!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Put a stack of decaying skin on your head and see how appetizing you look to predators

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

Yeah, fair. Maybe it’s just like that lizard that squirts blood out of its eyes and predators just go “EESH WTF”

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Maybe it does nothing and evolution just never selected against it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

It’s possible. Seems like it would at least change visibility to predators though. Or make it harder for the caterpillar to hide. Interesting!