No, on my palm. Gently gently.
I grew up with the great ones: lunas, polyphemus, cecropia. Would regularly raise them into cocoon state and then hatch and release their chrysalides, like any child. Such a wonder.
They are furry and so beautiful.
Perhaps this enhances their beauty. I don’t know.
Such majesty in their great wings.
They are not powered fliers like the hawkmoths, but they are super impressive.
These are all Saturnids, you know.
The one he showed above is the Atlas, which can have a wingspread an entire foot across!!!!
> Most Saturniidae are harmless animals at least as adults, and in many cases at all stages of their life. Thus, some of the more spectacular species – in particular Antheraea – can be raised by children or school classes as educational pets. The soft, silken cocoons make an interesting keepsake for pupils.
The Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, are among the largest of the moths. They form a family of Lepidoptera, with an estimated 2,300 described species worldwide. The Saturniidae include such Lepidoptera as the giant silkmoths, royal moths and emperor moths.
Adults are characterized by large size, heavy bodies covered in hair-like scales, lobed wings, reduced mouthparts, and small heads. They lack a frenulum but the hind wings overlap the forewings, producing the same effect of an unbroken wing surface. These moths are sometimes brightly colored and often have translucent eyespot...
This is the only lethal one:
The genus Lonomia is a moderate-sized group of fairly cryptic saturniid moths from South America, famous not for the adults, but for their highly venomous caterpillars, which are responsible for a few deaths each year (e.g., [http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/179/2/158]), especially in southern Brazil, and the subject of hundreds of published medical studies. They are commonly known as Giant Silkworm Moth, a name also used for a wide range of other Saturniid moths.
Description
The caterpillars are themselves extremely cryptic, blending in against the bark of trees, where the larvae co...
According to research published in the journal Toxicon, Lonomia obliqua has a unique venom that causes disseminated intravascular coagulation and a consumptive coagulopathy, which can lead to a hemorrhagic syndrome. Study revealed that at the base of each spine was a sack where the toxins were stored. As the stems and needles penetrated the victim, venom would flow through the hollow needles and into the puncture wound.[6]
It was also discovered that the toxin in the caterpillar's skin held potent anti-clotting agents. This anti-clotting agent would attach to another protein to the body's c…
Before this, nobody knew that caterpillars could kill a man.
I’m quite surprised, actually.
I knew there was skin irritation possible from some of them, but actual fatalities are new to me.
It’s like living with scorpions and not knowing it.
> The reported death rate is 2.5%. An antiserum is produced by the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil. It effectively reverses the coagulation disorders induced by Lonomia obliqua venom, and patients treated with this antiserum recover rapidly.
I was always a little nervous about woolly bears. They look prickly, but I think they’re ok. The tiger moths they turn into are pretty, too.
Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This family includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths (or tigers), which usually have bright colours, footmen (which are usually much drabber), lichen moths and wasp moths. Many species have 'hairy' caterpillars which are popularly known as woolly bears or woolly worms. The scientific name refers to this (Gk. αρκτος = a bear). Caterpillars may also go by the name 'tussock moths' (more usually this refers to Lymantriidae, however).
Diagnosis
...
> The setae of the Woolly Bear caterpillar do not inject venom and are not urticant—they do not typically cause irritation, injury, inflammation, or swelling.[2] Handling them is discouraged, however, as the bristles may cause dermatitis in people with sensitive skin. Their main defense mechanism is playing dead if picked up or disturbed.
The Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) can be found in many cold regions, including the Arctic. The banded Woolly Bear larva emerges from the egg in the fall and overwinters in its caterpillar form, when it literally freezes solid. First its heart stops beating, then its gut freezes, then its blood, followed by the rest of the body. It survives being frozen by producing a cryoprotectant in its tissues. In the spring it thaws out and emerges to pupate. Once it emerges from its pupa as a moth it has only days to find a mate.
In most temperate climates, caterpillars become moths wi...
> Recent research[4] has shown that the larvae of a related moth Grammia incorrupta (whose larvae are also called “woollybears”) consume alkaloid-laden leaves that help fight off internal parasitic fly larvae. This phenomenon is said to be "the first clear demonstration of self-medication among insects".
There is so, so, so much that we just do not know.
The annual Woollybear Festival is held every Fall in downtown Vermilion, Ohio, on Lake Erie. The one-day, family event, which began in 1973, features a woolly bear costume contest in which children, even pets, are dressed up as various renditions of the woolly bear caterpillar.
The festival is held every year around October 1 on a Sunday on which the Cleveland Browns have an away game. It is touted as the largest one-day festival in Ohio.
History
The festival is the brainchild of legendary Cleveland TV personality Dick Goddard, longtime weatherman at WJW-TV. In much the same way Punxsut...