There is one truly bizarre creature: is one New species of caterpillarUnfortunately, in danger of extinction, who lives in the cobwebs and “decorates” his portable home with parts of the body of the prey of the spider, hence the nickname “bone collector”. The discovery is the work of a research group led byUniversity of Hawaii.
The caterpillar belongs to the group Hawaiian Fancy Casealso known as the genre Hyposmocomaand was really nicknamed ‘Brucus Collector of bones‘For his macabre habit (to human eyes) to add parts of the body of insects in his portable home.
The researchers have not only seen this home, a little different from that of the common caterpillars which then become butterflies: in fact they really observed these caterpillars attack part of the body Like wings of Moscow, awl and scissor addoms (Forte Auricularia) and add them like “decorations” to their homes.
The brucian collector of Ossa is another example of how incredible and unpredictable the evolution to Hawaii may be – underlines Daniel Rubinoff, the first author of the research – not only are the only caterpillars in the world to decorate their homes with parts of bodiesbut, perhaps even more shocking, they earn to live clinging to the cobwebs. It is something that we would never even imagine was possible. But in Hawaii, here it is
Like many caterpillars, this also undergoes a metamorphosis and turns into a moth. This, in particular, is carnivorous And lives with spiders in cobwebs located in the cavities of the trees, in the trunks or in the rocky cavities.
The species and a opportunist predator which feeds on weakened insects or recently died inside the spider web, even arriving chew the spider web to reach the meal. A truly bizarre and unique behavior, which has not yet been explained.
The team of researchers estimates that the origin of the evolutionary line of this caterpillar dates back to At least six million years agosignificantly older than the current Hawaii: This suggests that the species may have been a more widespread time in the ancient islands now submerged north-west of the Hawaiian main archipelago.
However, the study also reveals a worrying reality: The species just discovered is already in danger. In fact, after decades of research, the caterpillar was found only in a small forest area of 15 square kilometers in the mountain range Waiʻanae in Oʻahu.
For this, scientists ask immediate conservation interventions To preserve his habitat and prevent the loss thus the loss of this extraordinary species.
The work was published on Science.
Sources: University of Hawaii / Science
