HEAD START

Words: Chris Stafford

Common name: Head-stacking caterpillar Scientific name: Uraba lugens The gum-leaf skeletoniser moth is quite a deal more interesting as a juvenile than in its eucalypt-gobbling adult form. During its larval stage, as it grows, it sheds its exoskeleton for a new one more than a dozen times. However, rather than consume the moulted bits for their nutrients as other species do, the caterpillar stacks its empty heads one on top of the other, each larger than the last. This unique habit, possibly a ploy to confuse predators or even bat them away, has earnt it the nickname ‘the mad hatterpillar’ after the character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland who, in another context, sums it all up when he exclaims, “What a small world this is!”…

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Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue #13.2 - 2022

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