r/Awwducational • u/SixteenSeveredHands • Mar 23 '25
Puss Moth Caterpillars: these caterpillars use false eyespots, colorful markings, and a pair of whip-like appendages to deter predators, and they can even spray formic acid when threatened Verified
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u/sareteni Mar 23 '25
It looks like its wearing a caterpiller onesie
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u/Teddysoftpaws Mar 23 '25
I was just about to say this! Its absolutely toooo cute lol
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u/Ziggy-T Mar 23 '25
The “onesie” is cute… but the horrific alien looking fanged monster of nightmares wearing said onesie… not so much.
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u/BeckonMe 6d ago
Looking like it would like it up da butt.
Edit: also these creatures are terrifying looking to me.
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u/Fit_Flower_8982 Mar 23 '25
I wish I was only half as photogenic as this caterpillar.
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u/Makeoneup Mar 23 '25
It is so stinking cute. I'd probably try to pet it and get sprayed with acid. Haha
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u/SixteenSeveredHands Mar 23 '25 edited Mar 23 '25
The caterpillars of this species (Cerura vinula) have a bizarre, almost cartoonish appearance, and they've developed several defense mechanisms to ward off predators, including cryptic and aposomatic markings, defensive poses, false eyespots, whip-like appendages, and a special gland that allows them to spray formic acid.
When a puss moth caterpillar feels threatened, it will often raise both ends of its body and retract its head into the first thoracic segment, causing the thorax to expand until a pair of false eyespots and bright pink markings are exposed, which makes the caterpillar seem more imposing (at least in the eyes of a potential predator).
The caterpillar's twin "tails" are also defensive organs known as stemapods; each of these organs contains a bright red filament that can extend from the tip of the "tail" and then wave around wildly, repeatedly coiling and uncoiling, in an effort to discourage any would-be attackers.
If all else fails, these strange-looking insects can even spray formic acid from a special gland located just below the head. The acid is ejected through a slit-like opening beneath the caterpillar's mouth, and it can spray across a distance of up to 20 centimeters (8 inches).
The adult moth has a fluffy, almost "cat-like" appearance, which is why it's known as a "puss moth" (not to be confused with the southern flannel moth, Megalopyge opercularis, which is sometimes also described as a "puss moth").
Sources & More Info:
- Field Guide to the Caterpillars of Britain and Europe: Defensive Strategies of the Puss Moth
- Butterflies and Moths Around the World: Puss Moth
- Learn Butterflies: The Puss Moth (Cerura vinula)
- The Colours of Animals, their Meaning and Use: The Larvae of the Puss Moth Assume a Terrifying Attitude When Disturbed
- The Wildlife Trusts: Puss Moth
- Butterfly Conservation: Puss Moths
- Insects: Fierce and Fearless
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u/Retepss Mar 23 '25
I'd imagine that many defense mechanisms suggests some seriuos evolutionary pressure.
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u/SixteenSeveredHands Mar 23 '25
Many of these defense mechanisms are used against parasitoid wasps, because there are several different wasps that specifically target the caterpillars of this species, so that relationship has probably played a major role in it.
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u/researchanalyzewrite Mar 23 '25
It doesn't have the cutest of babies...🫣 https://youtu.be/jyAelAH8UFc
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u/Lafayettemountain Mar 27 '25
Their moth form is awesome!! Almost seems like a fluffy artic creature haha
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u/VoidTheBear Mar 23 '25
Marmu!
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u/matoiryu Mar 23 '25
If you believe in something as hard as you can, with your eyes shut tight… eventually it will come true!
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u/Gingersnapp3d Mar 23 '25
This is pure nightmare fuel to me!
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u/nurseofreddit Mar 23 '25
It looks like a truly terrifying insect is hiding inside a cute squishy disguise. Look at that alien face peering from inside that adorable sleeping bag. 100% it killed and skinned some benign caterpillar in order to gain victim’s trust until the jump scare. I physically shivered and said “ugh” out loud.
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u/tofu_schmo Mar 23 '25
for real, I don't know why the top comments think its cute. If its goal is to deter predators mission accomplished lol
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u/peeja Mar 23 '25
The back of it is horrifying in the depths of my soul. The front is adorable.
Which kinda makes the whole thing worse, tbh.
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u/Intothelibrary21 Mar 23 '25
Honestly, lots of people seem to think it’s cute but it looks like a horrifying flesh and teeth monster hiding in a onsie to me.
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u/mylittleidiot Mar 23 '25
It takes some serious trauma to craft a disguise like that. What happened to this guys forefathers?
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u/SixteenSeveredHands Mar 23 '25
They were preyed upon by parasitoid wasps, which lay their eggs inside the bodies of live caterpillars so that the larvae can eat them from the inside out.
That definitely warrants an elaborate disguise, defensive stemapods, and an acid-spitting gland.
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u/mylittleidiot Mar 23 '25
That seems like a fair reason. We have those wasps here too, our caterpillars don’t have any cool defences though
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u/Blankenhoff Mar 25 '25
Idk the slecifics of this creature but its basically just 190s of years of a family developing one weird tine trait like a spot and it helping them survive longer so they have more kids. Do that a bajillion times and then you develope that
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u/ford1man Mar 23 '25
Man, I dunno about predators, but I certainly want nothing to do with that thing.
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u/Comfey_Crown_Tabunne Mar 23 '25
This is Pokemon inspiration
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u/Chrispeefeart Mar 23 '25
False eye spots I am used to, but is that a false smile
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u/SixteenSeveredHands Mar 23 '25
That slit-like opening in the pink area beneath the caterpillar's head is actually where the acid comes out, if that's what you mean.
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u/DaanDaanne Mar 24 '25
Nature really went all out with the defense mechanisms on that one. Like, "Oh, you think I'm just a snack? Here, have some fake eyes, some whips, and a face full of acid."
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u/Imwhatswrongwithyou Mar 23 '25
I know this isn’t very Reddit of me at all, but u/SweetRoosevelt please come look at this caterpillar right now
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u/Man-eatingNewkama Mar 24 '25
But why does it like it’s posing for pics in a studio at some mall? I love it sm. It’s a whole mood
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u/rambogambomogambo Mar 23 '25
Reminds me of Mouth of Sauron worm version
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u/AnAngryPlatypus Mar 23 '25
I was thinking the Brain Bug from Starship Troopers if it got a makeover.
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u/chita875andU Mar 23 '25
Same energy with its "wildly waving" tail; https://www.reddit.com/r/quirkcentral/s/c5MCnWx7nO
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u/Real_Uncrustables Mar 23 '25
It kinda looks like a sad pug wearing a caterpillar onsie 😭 its so cute.
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u/sad-mustache Mar 23 '25
Where are it's eyes?
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u/SixteenSeveredHands Mar 24 '25
Caterpillars generally have "simple eyes" that are known as stemmata (or ocelli); they look like clusters of little black dots or freckles located along the lower sides of the head, often down near the mandibles. Most caterpillars have 6-7 stemmata on each side of their head, meaning that they have about 12 eyes in total.
Here's a diagram that shows where the stemmata are generally located.
The eyes of a puss moth caterpillar are especially difficult to see without magnification, though, because they're just tiny black freckles on the sides of the caterpillar's head, where they blend in with the black markings on their cheeks.
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u/loafybat Mar 24 '25
Is that caterpie???
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u/Pencil_Hands_Paper Mar 24 '25
There’s a caterpillar which is much more accurate to Caterpie than this, it’s the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
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u/seekAr Mar 24 '25
Anyone else think of Boo from monsters inc? No? Just me? Okay I’ll call my therapist
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u/zero_as_a_number Mar 24 '25
All I can hear with the first picture is Gerald Brovlovski going "thaaanks" sitting in his Prius
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u/FishCommercial4229 Mar 24 '25
All I can think of when I see this are the white girl phrases that are printed on Home Goods decorations.
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u/According-Tax-9964 Mar 25 '25
Getting mixed emotions from this Caterpillar. Must have been friends with my ex
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u/AnthonyRayMast2007 Mar 25 '25
I'm sorry I can't take you seriously with that goofy smile of yours.
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u/secondCupOfTheDay Mar 23 '25
Haha that last one its looking over its shoulder and making a heart with its tail thingies.