Incredible caterpillar from my garden

[dr_parsley]

I was blown away yesterday by this thing I found in our garden. We live in "the bush", meaning we are bounded on 3 sides by wild African bush and we often see things that look really bizarre, but this takes the biscuit. It's a little caterpillar-like thing which has constructed an intricate housing out of bits of grass etc for camouflage. It manages to move around, despite its housing being quite angular and unwieldy, by dragging itself forward on strong little pincers.

Unlike any other caterpillar-like thing I've seen, it is extremely aware of my presence and hides its body inside the housing before you're really quite sure that you saw it. You wouldn't believe there's anything inside it otherwise, but I did get a blurry picture of the head poking out:

I let it go last night, because I wouldn't have been able to sleep with the thought of holding this special thing captive all night (I'm a sensitive type!), but to prove it's not a fluke, we found another one this morning but smaller.

I am again amazed by God's creation. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this little beast isn't yet known to science - I've never heard of anything like it. Living in the bush you do get this feeling that crawling all around are lots of things yet unknown to science, but more than known to God! Praise our awesome God!

 

[LawrenceU]

That's interesting. It looks something like a terrestrial Caddis Fly larva. (Caddis flies are aquatic in their laval state.)

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I shall call it Parsley Catepillar.

 

[Scott1]

I think the scientific name is Parslius cateperilleri.

 

[OPC'n]

I think the scientific name is Parslius cateperilleri.

Hahaha! Good one!

That is just !

 

[turmeric]

I wonder what it turns into? Quite intricate - God's ways with these bugs are fantastic - it was the sight of an ordinary caterpillar that He used to bring home to me the reality of a Creator. It was dun-colored and nearly eyeless as far as I could tell, but it had white "eyes" painted on the top of its head to keep predators away, and a breathing vent that looked remarkably like a mouth on top as well. I wish I had a picture.

 

[dr_parsley]

That's interesting. It looks something like a terrestrial Caddis Fly larva.

I hadn't heard of Caddis Fly larva before, so thanks for that. Google images has helped me out and I can tell you these things seem better builders than the Caddis Fly. Notice the regular and precise criss-crossing of the plant stems and how it's cut the stems all to the same length. The other one we found was exactly the same.

(Caddis flies are aquatic in their laval state.)

We're on top of a mountain... I shall look out for some strange looking flying insects this season.

 

[Nate]

Awesome!

 

[ewenlin]

WOOOOOOW

but it kind of creeps me out, especially the intricate workings.

*shudder

But please do post more cool finds!

 

[nicnap]

Wow. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Baptist-1689er]

Cool!

 

[Ivan]

That's amazing! Share more photos, Dean.

 

[Blue Tick]

Amazing little bug!

 

[Berean]

Any guess as to how all the stem pieces adhere to its body? Perhaps it secretes a sticky glue-like substance. But doing the arranging is the real trick!

 

[Idelette]

That is pretty amazing! It's neat to see the complexity in the pattern and design in creating its little shell!

 

[AThornquist]

Aw man, a sensitive type caught it! I was hoping for progressive photos of its dissection.

Really neat critter, though I wonder how it gets that junk on its body. Interesting.

 

[Skyler]

I bet it uses silk.

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychidae[/ame]