Our thanks to Phil Torres, a field biologist based out of the Tambopata Research Center in Peru, for permission to republish this post. He was interviewed earlier this year for Britannica Blog.
A circumscribing line of setae around this twig make a difficult wall to pass as an ant. Credit: Phil Torres
Note the protective ‘walls’ of hairs above the forming cocoon. Credit: Phil Torres
Many moths incorporate the setae (hairs) of the caterpillar into the cocoon in some way—often in the form of a weaving them with silk into the protective case around the pupa.
But the method used by this [unidentified] species takes some serious planning.
At the bottom, you get the forming cocoon and pupa, with the caterpillar still inside. But as you go up the twig you find multiple ‘walls’ constructed out of the caterpillar’s hairs all woven together to prevent predators like ants from climbing down.
The process of making this would have been truly something to watch, as the caterpillar literally takes the hair off its back and carefully weaves them together using the silk gland located just below the mouth.
As I figured out what the hairs were doing, I literally said aloud, to myself, “How are there so many cool things here?!” The Amazon never ceases to amaze me with the unique adaptations we find out here every day. Seriously.