While working on an unrelated project I managed to get severely sidetracked as I am wont to do and ran across some very interesting stuff on some caterpillars which led to some other interesting things. Some photos are included, but I hesitate to post them here directly out of respect for the photographers, so I'll add links to them.
Specifically I was reading about the Lonomia moth caterpillar.
photo here
This little guy has an unbelievably toxic venom. It has a fatality rate that is comparable to the average rattlesnake bite, even though the venom yeild is less than 0.0001 of the volume.
To date there hasn't been an LD50 test run on it, but it is thought that it will produce one of the lowest values for any natural toxin known.
As the plants the larvae feed upon are not unusually toxic, they presumably synthesize the toxin directly, but the biochemical pathways used have apparently not yet been documented.
They turn into a very neat looking moth.
See the pic
It took me a couple of minutes to realize it was right there in perfectly plain view.
In the process of investigating the Lonomia, I ran across a field guide published by the Air Force,
located here
There's numerous pictures of all kinds of medically significant invertebrates, but here are a few of the nicest looking caterpillars.
Calcarifera ordinata
Spitfire (Doratifera vulnerans)
Crowned slug (Isa textula)
Parasa indetermina
Saddleback caterpillar (Sabine stimulea)
Unknown caterpillar, Family Limacodidae
Cup moth caterpillar (Euproctis sp.)
Molippa basina
I've always admired the beauty found in many caterpillars. I saw some interesting ones in Costa Rica, but I didn't touch any of them just to be safe haha.
I was amazed though at the toxicity of the Lonomia in respect to the venom yeild. I could see how one could easily suffer some severe consequences from sources you might not initially view as being that dangerous.
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