Amazing Larvae
- Mark Tutton
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Amazing Larvae
Came across this amazing moth larvae on Twitter that mimics a tree snake as a defensive strategy.
The south American Hemeroplanes is a member of Sphingidae and is capable of expanding its anterior body segments to give it the appearance of a snake, complete with eye patches. This snake mimicry extends even to the point where it will harmlessly strike at potential predators!
https://t.co/PjQcgv0BcL
The wonder of natural selection at its extreme
Mark
The south American Hemeroplanes is a member of Sphingidae and is capable of expanding its anterior body segments to give it the appearance of a snake, complete with eye patches. This snake mimicry extends even to the point where it will harmlessly strike at potential predators!
https://t.co/PjQcgv0BcL
The wonder of natural selection at its extreme
Mark
The wonder of the world, the beauty and the power, the shapes of things, their colours lights and shades, these I saw. Look ye also while life lasts.
- Jack Harrison
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Re: Amazing Larvae
Utterly amazing. But the adult moth isn't all that unusual:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hemer ... us_sjh.JPG
Jack
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hemer ... us_sjh.JPG
Jack
- Padfield
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Re: Amazing Larvae
Truly remarkable. How many trillions upon trillions of prototypes must have been gobbled up by predators to fine tune this to such an amazing degree!
Guy
Guy
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- Tony Moore
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Re: Amazing Larvae
Unless the Creationists are right....
Tony M.
Tony M.
- Charles Nicol
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Re: Amazing Larvae
utterly amazing. there must some further layer of action to produce these amazing mimicries, not just random mutations being selected by reproductive success.
Re: Amazing Larvae
That's almost supernatural!
Re: Amazing Larvae
I can only repeat what's already been said. Amazing!!
Thanks for posting this.
N
Thanks for posting this.
N
- Padfield
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Re: Amazing Larvae
Our own elephant hawk moth shows the same basic pattern: http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=4183. It has the eyes, the swollen 'head' and the reptilian skin.
Presumably, the prevalence of deadly, venomous snakes in the jungles of Peru makes resembling one a paricularly powerful deterrent, increasing selection pressure towards this design.
Guy
Presumably, the prevalence of deadly, venomous snakes in the jungles of Peru makes resembling one a paricularly powerful deterrent, increasing selection pressure towards this design.
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
Re: Amazing Larvae
I remember you posting a video of a Glanville Fritillary larva apparently lashing out like a tiny snake, the effect emphasised by the red eyes on the caterpillar resembling those of an adder (if only very vaguely).
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S American caterpillar amazing mimicry video
I saw this video of a Hemeroplanes caterpillar from Peru and wanted to share it. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxEDmXT ... e=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxEDmXT ... e=youtu.be
- Padfield
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Re: S American caterpillar amazing mimicry video
Thanks Alistair - it's an amazing video.
Mimicry in nature, mimicry (accidental) on the forums - quite coincidentally, Mark Tutton posted the same thing a couple of weeks back :
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8095
Guy
Mimicry in nature, mimicry (accidental) on the forums - quite coincidentally, Mark Tutton posted the same thing a couple of weeks back :
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8095
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
- Charles Nicol
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Re: S American caterpillar amazing mimicry video
that was an amazing video !
i was wondering whether humans are mimicking anything ?
i was wondering whether humans are mimicking anything ?
- Jack Harrison
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Re: S American caterpillar amazing mimicry video
Charles:
Jack
EDIT from Vince Massimo (20-12-2014)
I have now taken the liberty of merging these two topics together because they relate to the same thing
Vince
Well I certainly had some managers who seemed to quite good at mimicking a different species of primate...was wondering whether humans are mimicking anything ?
Jack
EDIT from Vince Massimo (20-12-2014)
I have now taken the liberty of merging these two topics together because they relate to the same thing
Vince