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curious larval behaviour
Arranged around the edges of an opposite pair of silver birch leaves,
about an inch across at the widest, a number of pallid green caterpillars about 15mm long with black heads and a near-transparent final segment. The arrangement was extraordinary. Each caterpillar had about 3mm of its head end anchored right at the edge of the leaf surface, in line with the circumference, and the rest of its body poked up in the air with the last segment or two hooked over, making an S-shape. The next caterpillar had its head snug up against the body of the one in front, with its tail in the air, and so on all around the leaf, a bit like parked supermarket trolleys. There was a slight twist to each caterpillar so that its raised body stuck out beyond the edge of the leaf on more or less the same plane as the leaf surface, making a kind of fringe to the leaf. Approximately eight to the leaf, completely motionless, and on those two leaves only among many surrounding birches. Anyone know what species they are, and could anyone hazard a guess as to the Darwinian explanation of such behaviour? brian mitchell |
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