The caterpillar is the larval stage of a butterfly or a moth. Physically the caterpillar looks like worms, centipedes, scabs, or larvae from other insects, but you can recognize caterpillars based on the particular limbs it has. You can also recognize a particular caterpillar species based on the way of life. There are many referral sources that can help you identify certain types of caterpillars.
Part 1 of 2:
Recognizing General Caterpillars
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)Understand the basic anatomy of caterpillars. Although the caterpillar physically looks like a worm, the caterpillar's body can be divided into three parts as well as when the caterpillar becomes an adult (being a butterfly):
Head. The head of the caterpillar consists of six pairs of single eyes divided into two clusters, as well as a strong and sharp jaw which can tear leaves into edible small pieces. At the bottom of the caterpillar lips are spinnerets that emit silk. In addition to sustaining the body of the caterpillar when attached to the plant, the silk is also used as a cocoon-making material used by caterpillars to morpheme into butterflies.
Toraks. In the thorax there are 6 legs used to hold the body of the caterpillar on the food. After the caterpillar through the phase of metamorphosis and turned into a butterfly, the legs (real legs) will still exist.
Abdomen. The caterpillar has a longer abdomen than its abdomen when it becomes a butterfly. In the center of the abdomen there are eight legs while the so-called prolegs. The caterpillar also has a pair of prolegs (known as anal prolegs) located behind the abdomen
The whole body of the caterpillar is filled with fine feathers (setae) that become the sensory sensors of the caterpillar. In certain species, the feathers are so obvious that the caterpillar appears hairy.
In contrast to the caterpillars, centipedes have one pair of legs for each body segment, with the number of body parts reaching 15 to 177 segments (the number of sections always in odd numbers). Meanwhile, the senggulung has two pairs of legs for each segment of the body, with the number of body parts reaching 10 to 180 segments. Therefore, the number of legs owned by senggulung is 40 to 75 pieces. Other insect larvae, such as beetle larvae, have only six legs.