Wierd looking Caterpillar

[tchuanye]

Was at Pasir Ris park toady, and saw a really wierd looking Caterpillar (ID appreciated)!

At first, I thought 2 weaver ends were biting at both ends...than I began to doubt if its a caterpillar or centipede....anyway, after shooting it, and reviewing in my camera, than I was sure it its a caterpillar.....but it sure look odd, and hope our butt photographers can help ID and show what its adult looks like! Thanks!

FZ10+Raynox 250, ISO50, F8, 1/60-1/200s, 2 ext flash (diffused)

#1:The entire Caterpillar


#2:The head


#3:The Body (looks like a centipede)


#4: The tail


#5: Those dangling things:

[huggable]

I wonder what kind of butterfly will it turn into...?

[wong1979]

Interesting...I think I've also seen this cat b4 at PSR mangrove area but without the "long legs" and "ant's butt". Different life stage perhaps. Wonder what's the rationale behind it? To attract more ants or to scare other prey away

[PnS]

Wow what's that antapillar???

[sumball]

Good catch there CY. Don't think this caterpillar is belongs to any butterfly but moth imho.

[tchuanye]

Thanks for looking!

I have heard that moth caterpillar are quite hairy....so not sure if this is.

anyway, its sure looks wierd.

[Zplus]

Interesting caterpillar. I believe it is trying to mimic a centepede which is poisonous.

[m00nman26]

cool!!
Should bring it back to see what it turns into

[tchuanye]

Thanks for looking.

[slardar]

Wow Cool! You've just discovered a never before seen species of caterpillar! A mutation of ant + centipede + caterpillar + grapes? How big is the actual thing? Length? Haha.. Really strange looking..

[tchuanye]

Originally Posted by slardar Wow Cool! You've just discovered a never before seen species of caterpillar! A mutation of ant + centipede + caterpillar + grapes? How big is the actual thing? Length? Haha.. Really strange looking..

Well, that would be interesting!

I would say its abt 5-6cm long.

[redstone]

Strange caterpillar...

[Keith37]

It's interesting to see what we can find if we just keep our eyes trained to see the unseen and hear the unheard.

Nice discovery there. It look lost, and unsure what direction to head with its 'two' heads.

[tchuanye]

Originally Posted by redstone Strange caterpillar...

Originally Posted by Keith37 It's interesting to see what we can find if we just keep our eyes trained to see the unseen and hear the unheard. Nice discovery there. It look lost, and unsure what direction to head with its 'two' heads.

It really took me awhile to figure out where the head was. And it wriggled both ends...so could be something to distract predator??

[eikin]

i've seen one before too, think more than a year back at Punggol End. it was entirely red like a rubber band though, and looking like red ants ... there happen to be some red ants around also. it was hyper active, totally unlike the common caterpillar we have in mind that wriggles along slowly, it pushes itself around really fast, especially when disturbed, and it's good at hiding.

[Green Baron]

Chuan Yean,
That is indeed a moth caterpillar that mimics the ant. There are similar looking moth caterpillars, some mimics spider while others mimics ant. This one is unique because both ends look like the head of an ant.

Unfortunately I don't think anyone has rear these cats so we don't know the id of the moth

I would be very keen to rear these cats so that we can Id them. If any of you come across these cats again, do contact me at 97544174 or through BIG email and I will arrange to pick up the cat.

BTW, You can look up butterfly and moth cats at the BIG caterpillar web page

[mmk]

Originally Posted by Green Baron Chuan Yean, That is indeed a moth caterpillar that mimics the ant. There are similar looking moth caterpillars, some mimics spider while others mimics ant. This one is unique because both ends look like the head of an ant.

Hi Green Baron,

Firstly, thank you for the link to the caterpillars however I find you very contraticting

At first, you sound very confident and sure that this caterpillar belongs to moth and later on, you said

Originally Posted by Green Baron Unfortunately I don't think anyone has rear these cats so we don't know the id of the moth

.

Since no one has bred this caterpillar to adult before, how can you make the earlier statement? Is there any external link that you can provide to support your first statement?

Please do not get me wrong. I am just trying to confirm the actual fact that this is a indeed moth's caterpillar instead of others.

Thank you.

[Green Baron]

mmk,
Maybe I was not very clear when I said "I don't think anyone has rear these cats". What I meant was I am not aware of anyone in Singapore who has rear this type of moth
caterpillar, thus we do not know the genus and species of this particular moth.

However this type of moth caterpillar has been reared in other countries. I have seen this type of caterpillar in a book on Caterpillars of South America.

[Green Baron]

Originally Posted by tchuanye It really took me awhile to figure out where the head was. And it wriggled both ends...so could be something to distract predator??

To figure out which is the real head, look at the legs. Caterpillar has 3 pairs of legs at the thorax, just behind the head. These 'true' legs will transform into legs in the adult butterfly/moth and they are usually pointed.

On the body of the caterpillar, there should be at least 3 pairs of prolegs and a proleg at the back. These legs only exist in caterpillar stage and they have 'sucker' at the base to allow them to grip on the leaves and branches.

In photo #1 (shown below), you can see the prolegs on the left and 3 pairs of pointed legs on the right. So the real head of the caterpillar is on the right.

[mmk]

Thanks Green Baron for the info and sharing.

Hope you manage to get one to breed and tell us its ID soon!

Cheers!