#old study

Of course, I had to go with Waxer, that smile is his alright :)

Old study 22/09/20 A study from September filled with anecdotes about the first Birdwing caterpillar I had found. These photos also give good scale as to just how gigantic the caterpillar is. BTW, the video I’m referring to seems to be gone... It’d be on my computer somewhere, but it ain’t on Tumblr no more.

Main entry, 24/12/20

“Lepidoptera study - 22/09/20

Troides priamus, or the Cairns’ birdwing.

One of the most well-known butterflies in Australia, the caterpillar is a lot less familiar. I hope this post sheds some light in things.

This caterpillar is a late instar, though I’m not sure how far they are from pupating. Unlike other caterpillars, these birdwings are big and fat (I love their chubby prolegs,,).

The caterpillar also has retractable orange horns (see in first video). These horns pop out when the caterpillar feels threatened. Very strange… A big fat caterpillar is already threatening to me if I were an insect, I don’t think orange horns would do much.

Those orange horns are called “Osmeterium”, and when ejected, they excrete a fetid terpene-based compound. It’s basically a stinky acidic tongue. Along with that, Papilionidae also eat toxic plants, which can make them unappealing to predators.