ahh i actually havent ! at first i thought you were actually talking about a CATERPILLAR that looks like a snake, and said cocoon on accident (specifically the caterpillar of the hemeroplanes triptolemus, or snake-mimic hawk moth)
but it TURNS OUT theres a species of butterfly that takes it way further, to the point where all the other caterpillars are like “is this really fuckin necessary”
its the chrysalis of the daring-owl butterfly ! a species thats found in trinidad and spends a good portion of its young adult life trying to convince other things that its not actually completely helpless
LOOK at the detail thats gone into this though- i cant even imagine the journey this look mustve taken, with lightly less-snakelike chrysalises being eaten over time again and again until youve got something with definable eyes and scales
apparently if disturbed theyll also rock violently back and forth, furthering the idea that this is a very dangerous pitviper with the tiniest body imaginable
the adult butterflies are much less exciting but honestly they dont need to be with a history like that a+ bug
In celebration of my HAVING INTERNET AT HOME, allow me to share one of my new babies.
This is a Walnut Sphinx caterpillar. They scream when you touch them. It’s to scare off birds. It works on humans too.
October 18, 2018
I found one of these once! Only I didn’t know they could do that.
Lemme tell ya, trying to pick up the seemingly innocuous caterpillar on the sidewalk, only to have it shriek and wrap around your finger, is very startling.
so these little dudes are on display where I work and this conversation between various groups of visitors viewing them happens CONSTANTLY
Visitor 1: Aww! Look at the cute little caterpillars!!
Visitor 2: Oh!! cute!!
Visitor 3: No! it says they’re called silkWORMS.
All: Ewww Worms! Gross!
like…. the appearance of the animal did not change?? their name did not add or subtract any attributes from them?? also no one ever says anything like “oh well they’re cute for worms” they just immediately take back what they were saying before because of the word “Worm”
And they’re not even worms?? They are caterpillars. They’re just called that because they were named by people who didn’t bother to check for legs or consider that worms do not turn into moths.
They’re also very soft. Touch one! Even softer than most caterpillars.
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