the.com/caterpillar
a walking stomach that dissolves itself into goo just to grow wings.
means The larval stage of a butterfly or moth — a soft, segmented, many-legged creature that eats voraciously before transforming.
from From Old French 'chatepelose,' literally 'hairy cat' — from 'chate' (cat) plus a word for 'hairy' related to Latin 'pilosus.' Imagine a fuzzy bug looking enough like a tiny cat to earn the name. The English spelling was likely nudged by the verb 'cater' (to feed) and possibly an old word 'piller' meaning plunderer — fitting for a creature that strips leaves bare, though that part is more wordplay than true root.
- eating machine
- can multiply its body weight thousands of times
- more muscles
- has roughly 4,000 muscles to your 600
- secret memory
- moths remember things learned as caterpillars
- chemical defense
- some shoot acid or stink to repel predators
- twelve eyes
- six tiny eyes per side, yet barely sees
monarch butterfly caterpillar — larva of danaus plexippus, migrates 3,000 miles across north america
swallowtail caterpillar — papilio species larva, has orange osmeteria glands that release foul smell when threatened
tobacco hornworm — manduca sexta larva, grows to 3.5 inches and can defoliate plants in hours