A well-known survival tactic in the natural world is an organism mimicking the appearance of something else in order to fool predators. Leafy-looking insects are one example, and for the Hemeroplanes triptolemus moth, survival of its caterpillar form means disguising itself as a snake!
© D. H. Janzen & W. HallwachsHemeroplanes belongs to the Sphingidae family, found in many parts of South America, Africa and Central America. Upon closer inspection, however, one will see that this ‘snake’ is abnormally short in length; and while its topside looks pretty non-descript, the Hemeroplanes caterpillar has the ability to put on a snake disguise at the moment it feels threatened, according to Tom Hossie over at Caterpillar Eyespots:
© D. H. Janzen & W. Hallwachs
To scare predators off quickly, this harmless caterpillar will also sometimes move its body like a striking snake, despite the fact that it doesn’t have fangs nor venom. Hossie explains that Hemeroplanes triptolemus is probably the most well-known of caterpillars with distinctive ’eyespots’:
Here is a photo of Hemeroplanes triptolemus fully grown and looking nothing like a slithery snake:
Shawn Hanrahan /CC BY-SA 2.0
Check out more info and photos of this remarkable little caterpillar over at Caterpillar Eyespots and the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) websites.
