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The Camouflaged Looper: these caterpillars fashion their own camouflage by collecting flower petals/vegetation and using silk to "glue" the pieces onto their bodies

Though they're often referred to as "camouflaged loopers," these caterpillars are the larvae of the wavy-lined emerald moth (Synchlora aerata).

Camouflaged loopers deploy a unique form of self-defense -- they snip off tiny pieces of the flowers upon which they feed, then use bits of silk to attach the vegetation to their backs. This provides them with a kind of camouflage, enabling them to blend in with the plants that they eat.

Some of them create little tufts that run along their backs, while others fashion a thicker camouflage that covers their backs completely. In some cases, the camouflaged loopers will even build much larger bundles that surround their entire bodies.

Their range includes most of North America (from southern Canada down through Texas) and they can feed upon an enormous variety of plants -- so the disguises that these caterpillars build can come in countless colors, shapes, and sizes, incorporating many different flowers and other bits of vegetation.

And this is what the fully-developed moth looks like:

Sources & More Info:

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy: Wavy-Lined Emerald, Master of Disguise

Maryland Biodiversity Project: Wavy-Lined Emerald Moth (Synchlora aerata)

The Caterpillar Lab: Camouflaged Looper

University of Alberta Museums: Synchlora aerata

Missouri Department of Conservation: Wavy-Lined Emerald

Nebraskaland Magazine: The Amazing Camouflaged Looper

Lake County Forest Preserves: Camouflage Revealed

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Trail cam catching a deer fawn with the zoomies

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Morphological differences between thorns, spines, and prickles

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remember that everyone who disagrees with you is delusional

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i'm like if prometheus's liver was a girl

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This is the standard winged nightjar and it has one singular stupidly big feather on each wing... if you even care.

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mediterranean cats are really living the dream

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- A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers // kagonekoshiro

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some pictures i’ve taken under the microscope lately <3

(these are my photos, please don’t use without credit)

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⚠️ Important News! ⚠️

Baby Tiger Shark Practicing Her First Bites

Look at her go :)

Look at that little face <3

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in my last botany lab the professor had a prepared slide of diatoms set up for us to look at and i was not prepared for how delightful the slide looked

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Hehehe shar ks