page_title: Caterpillar
section_title: Defenses
hierarchical_section_title: Caterpillar / Defenses
caption_attribution_description: Acharia stimulea Clemens, 1960 Common Name: saddleback caterpillar Photographer: Gerald J. Lenhard, Louiana State Univ, United States Descriptor: Larva(e) Description: urticating hairs Image taken in: United States
context_page_description: Caterpillars are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera.
  As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies are commonly called caterpillars as well. Both lepidopteran and symphytan larvae have eruciform body shapes.
  Caterpillars of most species are herbivorous, but not all; some are insectivorous, even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products; for example, clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates.
  Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. In fact many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of caterpillar are valued as sources of silk, as human or animal food, or for biological control of pest plants.
context_section_description: Many animals feed on caterpillars as they are rich in protein. As a result, caterpillars have evolved various means of defense.
  Caterpillars have evolved defenses against physical conditions such as cold, hot or dry environmental conditions. Some Arctic species like Gynaephora groenlandica have special basking and aggregation behaviours apart from physiological adaptations to remain in a dormant state.
caption: The saddleback caterpillar has urticating hair and aposematic colouring.
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