Monday, June 27, 2011

video: camoflaged, carnivorous caterpillars... oh, my!

 


1. I THINK these are the killer caterpillars (or relatives thereof) my friend Dan discovered (oops, NO, see post script), but he's out tromping in the field (who knows where), so need to verify when he returns.

2. I need to figure out who made this film so I can credit them--it's great! Anyone know?

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P.S. Yes, I got an e-mail back from Dan, and those are NOT his bugs. =)

Thanks to the WONDER that is Katie at NatureID, we now know this is probably the work of Steve Montgomery, whom she considers "the expert on these types of caterpillars found in Hawaii. I found that he and his cohorts recently discovered Eupithecia that eat snails."

THEN Katie said "the video is from BBC Earth's 'Wild Pacific' series."

And for the more official site of the on-line video clip, she shows us this, "BBC Earth's very hip 'Life Is' site."

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Katie is AWESOME and SO much more disciplined than I. THANK YOU, KATIE! =)

AND thanks to DAN for getting back to me. =) (now I totally want to know what Dan IS up to...)

4 comments:

  1. That is so totally cool! Links galore FYI:

    I would consider Steve Montgomery to be the expert on these types of caterpillars found in Hawaii: http://www.springerlink.com/content/r10ng58876068x65/ I found that he and his cohorts recently discovered Eupithecia that eat snails.

    The video is from BBC Earth's "Wild Pacific" series: http://www.bbcearth.com/programmes/wild-pacific/

    For the online video clip, check out BBC Earth's very hip "Life Is" site: http://lifeis.bbcearth.com/#/media?ids=234,235,238,405,406,407,408,409,410,411,435&index=0

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  2. Ah, Katie, an ever-knowledgeable information finder and sharer! Thank you SO very much!
    =)

    I did find a paper Dan and Steve published together (both at UH). Seems that those islands have a BEVY of unusual caterpillars crawling around. Hope they can be sustained!

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  3. I am amazed at the strength of the caterpillar. It straightened up while supporting the weight of its lunch too. I have had a wonderful time going through your site.

    Biobabbler is Nature Site of the Week at Nature Center Magazine

    Emma Springfield

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  4. @ Emma--I didn't even THINK of that, the strength! Imagine the ab-work equivalent? Doing a back bend & not landing on your hands, but grabbing a heavy, heavy ball with both hands, then righting yourself. OUCH!

    And, jeepers, I'm SO glad you enjoyed your tour, and I'm SUPER surprised at and honored by being featured. Thanks so much!! =)

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Cool people write inside rectangles....