Weird caterpillar uses its old heads as a 'hat'

11 Aug 2020

Weird caterpillar uses its old heads as a ‘hat’

Weird caterpillar uses its old heads as a ‘hat’The Uraba lugens is a strange caterpillar that is found in Australia. Its nickname is the "mad hatterpillar", named after the Mad Hatter in the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Why is it called the mad hatterpillar?

Like many insects, the Uraba lugens sheds its head every once in a while and replaces it with a new one. This is part of their growth cycle from babies to adulthood.

However, while others discard their old heads or skin, this one does not. Instead, every time it sheds its head, the old head is stacked on top like a hat. So, as it sheds more heads, its 'hat' keeps growing tall like a tower.

The caterpillar's hat can stack up to 12 mm tall. This is nearly half its body length of 25 mm.

Why does the mad hatterpillar have this 'hat'?

The tall 'hat' makes it look bigger and more dangerous. That way, it can scare off a larger animal looking to eat the caterpillar.

Apart from its hat, Uraba lugens is also well known for eating eucalyptus leaves at a very fast rate. It eventually turns into a brown moth.

Here is a video on how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1S8WzwLPlM

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The Uraba lugens is a strange caterpillar that is found in Australia. Its nickname is the “mad hatterpillar”, named after the Mad Hatter in the […]

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