But all is not lost. They still have the talent for camouflaging but only to deceive their prey. The green species still prefer hanging around green leaves while the brown species stick out on a tree mimicking a twig. An even more glaring character in a caterpillar is cannibalism. But they do.
Many animals do eat their own kind especially when food is scarce.
These caterpillars, from the Spodoptera family, also known as the army worms, live on maize whorls. Oddly, they actually prefer plants since munching on their friends makes them susceptible to infections. A large community means more visibility. A dot on a page does not make anything. Imagine yourself as a caterpillar and the leaves are your hiding places from the caterpillar-eater and the guy next door is eating your haven.