What in the hell is this "creature?"

[Greyd]

I've seen that somewhere. IIRC its a caterpillar that mimics having large eyes to scare off predators and survive.

 

[dullard]

You are all wrong. It is clearly a new CDW ad campaign.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Yep, common slug. Not good for plants

Tell him to put a saucer full of beer in the flowerbed, the slugs will crawl in and die

cracked egg shells around the plants work okay too.

 

[TheoPetro]

its caterpie from pokemon. careful of the string-shot attack.

 

[swtethan]

Originally posted by: TheoPetro
its caterpie from pokemon. careful of the string-shot attack.

t3h win http://www.dltk-kids.com/pokemon/adoptions/caterpie.gif

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: Specop 007
A Navigator.
The spice must flow.

LOL... that's funny, I just watched Dune and Children of Dune last night

 

[The Batt?sai]

Originally posted by: cessna152
That can't be real.

:thumbsup:

 

[SithSolo1]

Its a sh*t weasel! :shocked:


ZOMG RUN!

 

[UncleWai]

The head on the first pic reminds me of this emoticon

 

[Accipiter22]

slug....the head has those dots on it to simulate eyes, so that enemies get fooled into thinking the slug sees it.

 

[RCN]

Can someone explain to me how the 'fake eyes' come about through evolution? Or the instinct the caterpillar has that would seemingly make it aware of the defense mechanism and use it.

 

[mjh]

All I can say is that it is pretty damn cool looking!

 

[alien42]

Originally posted by: RCN
Can someone explain to me how the 'fake eyes' come about through evolution? Or the instinct the caterpillar has that would seemingly make it aware of the defense mechanism and use it.

the more realistic the fake eyes the less likely it will be eaten by birds. natural selection at its finest.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: RCN
Can someone explain to me how the 'fake eyes' come about through evolution? Or the instinct the caterpillar has that would seemingly make it aware of the defense mechanism and use it.

The standard evolution theory is something like this:
[*]Colors change through mutations.
[*]This particular color pattern meant that fewer of this type were eaten.
[*]Thus more of that color pattern had babies.
[*]Thus you get more and more of that color pattern. Instead of a rare mutation, it becomes common.

 

[RCN]

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: RCN
Can someone explain to me how the 'fake eyes' come about through evolution? Or the instinct the caterpillar has that would seemingly make it aware of the defense mechanism and use it.

the more realistic the fake eyes the less likely it will be eaten by birds. natural selection at its finest.

I understand how it would benefit from fake eyes...........

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: GarlicBreath
Here he is:

http://static.flickr.com/29/49501941_e998977179_b.jpg

It's a tiger swallowtail caterpillar.

http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/enlarged.asp?imageID=22482

Read about the false eyes here:

http://janzen.sas.upenn.edu/caterpillars/indexexplain.htm

Wow, how did you figure it out it was a Tiger Swallowtail caterpiller? I used to collect butterflies as a kid and those were some of the more beautiful bufferflies around.

 

[ValkyrieofHouston]

Originally posted by: 49erinnc
My boss found this crawling around his yard this weekend and took pics. We seem to think it's some sort of slug but it's just so incredibly surreal looking. Probably only a couple inches long as you can see in relation to my boss' hand.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/49erinnc/Creature1.jpg

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/49erinnc/Creature2.jpg

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar... google it.

 

[z42]

Originally posted by: RCN

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: RCN
Can someone explain to me how the 'fake eyes' come about through evolution? Or the instinct the caterpillar has that would seemingly make it aware of the defense mechanism and use it.

the more realistic the fake eyes the less likely it will be eaten by birds. natural selection at its finest.

I understand how it would benefit from fake eyes...........

It's not evolution, it's natural selection as alien42 said (there is a difference). Not a genetic mutation, just an outward appearance. It's an advantagous trait that some have that make it more likely to survive or reproduce. Similar to how the average human height had been increasing over the past millenia (up until the past 100 years anyway).

 

[SZLiao214]

Thats a huge head on that thing!

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: SZLiao214
Thats a huge head on that thing!

Damn! The girls tell me the same thing!

 

[neutralizer]

Damn that's one creepy caterpillar.

 

[RCN]

Originally posted by: z42

Originally posted by: RCN

Originally posted by: alien42

Originally posted by: RCN
Can someone explain to me how the 'fake eyes' come about through evolution? Or the instinct the caterpillar has that would seemingly make it aware of the defense mechanism and use it.

the more realistic the fake eyes the less likely it will be eaten by birds. natural selection at its finest.

I understand how it would benefit from fake eyes...........

It's not evolution, it's natural selection as alien42 said (there is a difference). Not a genetic mutation, just an outward appearance. It's an advantagous trait that some have that make it more likely to survive or reproduce. Similar to how the average human height had been increasing over the past millenia (up until the past 100 years anyway).

It had to be a genetic mutation at some point right? I mean I can expect the next generation of caterpillars to have similar markings right? I really don't get the human height comparison.

It just seems unlikely to me that a mimicking trait would develop on its own.......that there was a chance mutation or a gradual change that provided a color scheme that looked like eyes. Even more so since it is seen in several species. Again, I understand how it would be beneficial from a natural selection viewpoint.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: RCN
It just seems unlikely to me that a mimicking trait would develop on its own.

Why?

With the millions of species out there, why is it so hard to think that one random variation would look like another?

 

[SilverThief]

its the devil

 

[bonkers325]

carnivorous earwig