Caterpillar | Definition, Insect, Types, & Facts - Britannica

Caterpillar defenses

The appearance of caterpillars is highly variable, particularly concerning their coloration, which plays a fundamental role in their ability to protect themselves from predators. In many instances, a caterpillar’s appearance is meant to imitate that of its surroundings, and it changes as the larva grows. For example, young larvae of many swallowtail butterflies (Papilio) are white and brown and resemble bird droppings on leaves, but, as the caterpillars grow, their appearance changes such that their colors eventually serve as camouflage enabling them to blend in with the leaves and stems of plants. In some caterpillars, coloration is conspicuous or is augmented by the presence of features such as false eyespots, which may serve to deceive or frighten predators.

Other defense strategies used by caterpillars include the release of foul-smelling chemicals, the production of noises such as chirps, the generation of vibratory signals, and the sequestration in tissues of chemicals toxic to predators. Caterpillars of the giant peacock moth (Saturnia pyri) send out ultrasonic warning chirps to deter predators. In some cases, those chirps occur just prior to or in conjunction with the release of pungent chemical deterrents. The masked birch caterpillar (Drepana arcuata) produces vibratory signals in order to defend its territory against intruders of the same species; it produces the vibrations by drumming its mandibles on the leaf surface and by scratching its legs, which are covered by hairlike structures, against the leaf.

Larvae of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) rely on a system of defense associated with their unique ability to feed on milkweed plants (Asclepias). These plants produce compounds known as cardenolides, which are normally toxic to animals. Monarch larvae, however, are unaffected by the poison, and they are able to sequester the compound in their tissues. Because the poison stays with the insects as they mature through subsequent stages of development, they are toxic to vertebrate predators both as larvae and as adult butterflies.