The art of disguise - South Africa - part 2

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:09 pm

Nature is wonderful. I found this critter during a trip to Pilansberg National Park. If one does not know what to look for, it can be extremely difficult to spot things like this. Luckily he was still moving before I took this pic, so it was relatively easy.

See if you can spot him before looking at the answer...

You can see he is attached to the branch by his feet and his mouth with hairs on his face at the other end. He is about 1 1/2 inches in length.

This is a Looper Caterpillar which turns into a beautiful brown, white and black moth. Here is more information and another picture.

Most of the Caterpillars in family GEOMETRIDAE only have one or two pair of prolegs. The caterpillars move with curving their bodies into loops. This is why they commonly called Loopers. They are also known as Inch Worms because they apparently measuring off one inch at a time as they move. Some of them are called Twig Caterpillars because in their resting posture, it looks like a twig.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:17 pm

This is a really nice catch, Joan!

I'm proud to say that I did find the critter before looking at the answer, but only because you told me there was something to see.

And even then, it took a while!

--Rik

Michigan Michael · Post by **Michigan Michael** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:24 pm

Wow, Joan!

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:28 pm

Thanks for looking and for your lovely comment Rik. I was very chuffed at myself for finding him. Now that I know what "sticks" to look for, I am finding others which are not moving.

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 6:29 pm

Thanks Michael...amazing isn't it!!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:34 pm

Indeed it took me awhile to recognize the critter too, like Rik commented, had you not mentioned of something out of the ordinary being there in the first image, it would have been harder to find. To tell the truth, a caterpillar was not what I immediately began looking for but one of those green insects that incredibly disquise themselves as leaves. However the head of he caterpillar eventually gave it away, since it or the end of the twig did not look just right or seemed out of place for a budding end. Really a nice set of photographs here Joan, sharp details and good depth of field, you did really good. I really do find it amazing as to how well the caterpillar blends in to its surroundings too.

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 7:41 pm

Thanks for the nice comment Ken.

Erland R.N. · Post by **Erland R.N.** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:35 am

I looked carefully at the first picture for a while, and did not find anything. Then I looked at the branch and wondered could that be an animal. hmm, no.
Incredible.

Erland

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:27 am

Thanks for the nice comment Erland. I had a lot of people looking at it with only one or two actually seeing the caterpillar so don't feel alone. If one does not have them locally, it is the last thing you expect to see.

One person even went as far as putting a fake spider ON the caterpillar, just to be able to say he found something.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:01 pm

Hehehehe, I thought it was a joke. I looked around the picture, did not see anything. Looked at the leaves thinking it was some kind of leaf insect like Ken. He really has the same texture as the bark. Is that the tree that they eat for food? Talk about adaptation

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:32 pm

Thanks for the lovely comment Doug. Some of the leaves around him were well pretty chewed up, so I guess he had a great meal on it. What amazed me was the little marks on him which look like a node of a branch.