6 biggest caterpillars in the world: beautiful or terrible
Many in childhood loved to watch butterflies that flutter over flowers, and this activity brought a lot of joy. But a well-known fact is that an insect, before becoming a beautiful butterfly, goes through several life cycles, starting with not always attractive caterpillars.
Description of the largest caterpillar
Butterfly caterpillar King Nut Moth is the largest in the world and its appearance scares people. The largest caterpillar lives in North America. It grows up to 15,5 cm in length, the body is green, covered with long spikes.
On its head, the caterpillar has several large horns, for which it was given the name "Hickory Horned Devil". This appearance confuses the enemies of the caterpillar.
caterpillar food
A large insect feeds on walnut leaves, and the greens of trees from the genus hazel, also belonging to the walnut family. The caterpillar eats as much as it takes to turn into a beautiful butterfly.
nut moth
At the end of summer, a butterfly emerges from the caterpillar, which is called the Royal Walnut Moth. It is very beautiful, and large in size, but it is not the largest in the world. The Royal Nut Moth lives only a few days and does not even eat. She emerges to mate and lay eggs, from which large green caterpillars with horns on their heads will emerge the following year.
Large caterpillars
There are some other caterpillars that are distinguished by their large size. Although they are not champions, they are quite impressive in their dimensions.
A long, gray-brown caterpillar that camouflages itself to look like the color of the wood. The body is thin, but long and powerful, the muscles are well developed.
The pest is about 50 mm long, lives among grape leaves. Available in green, brown or black. There is a horn at the tip of the tail.
Large pink or red-brown caterpillars up to 12 cm in size. They live mainly on old poplars, in special chambers.
Large yellow-green caterpillars can reach a size of 100 mm. Each segment is covered with hairs with thickened tips.
A common species of butterflies of large size with an unusual type of caterpillars. The body is orange-black, with stripes and spots.
Conclusion
In the world there is a wide variety of butterflies that emerge from caterpillars. All of them differ in size. The king nut moth comes from the world's largest caterpillar. She lives in the USA and Canada and lives on trees of the walnut family.
