NATURe’S MARVELS Image credit: Wikimedia commons World’s Most Attractive Jewel Caterpillar Shivani EWEL Caterpillar (Acraga coa) or The body of the tiny insect is like and can break-off very easily to distract slug caterpillar is one of the world’s a glass covered with colourful spiny the enemy like a lizard. The caterpillars Jmost stunning caterpillars with a protuberances which act as safety are found beneath the leaves and are so gooey appearance and a fat body. They guards from their predators as well as tiny that they cannot easily be seen and belong to a member of the Dalceridae the enemies that live in the rainforest. found in nature. family of moths of which 84 species are These spiny protuberances which act Some of the caterpillars use their found in North and South America. as a defence mechanism are detachable body colour to indicate their toxicity 60 | Science Reporter | May 2020 Image credit: Flickr.com and hence warn predators to stay away from them but there is no evidence that the bright colour of Jewel Caterpillar is poisonous or not. The larvae of the jewel caterpillar is generally a flattened structure and instead of prolegs, they have suckers. The thoracic legs of the jewel caterpillars are normally reduced. Development of jewels on caterpillar Gelatinous formation Rather than walking, the (Image Credit: https://viola.bz) caterpillars move with the help of rolling waves with individual prolegs and they use a lubricant (a type of liquefied silk) for their movement. The incredible jewel caterpillar eventually turns into a very beautiful orange coloured moth. This small insect attains an overall length of 2.5 cm in length. The jewel caterpillar is a native of Mexico, Costa Rica and several Caribbean islands. Jewel caterpillar turning into moth Orange coloured moth Contributed by Ms Shivani, Science (Image Credit: https://viola.bz) Reporter, CSIR-NISCAIR, New Delhi May 2020 | Science Reporter | 61.