This puss moth caterpillar scares predators.


Lots of Larvae T e puss moth is just one kind of caterpillar. You can find as many as 180,000 diff erent kinds of caterpillars crawling around on our planet. T ey live on every continent except Antarctica. Caterpillars look like worms. Yet they’re


not worms. T ey’re larvae. A larva is the young form of some animals, such as insects and amphibians. A larva doesn’t look like its parents. It has


diff erent body parts. It eats diff erent foods. And sometimes it has a diff erent name. Take the hickory horned devil, for


Deep in the forest, a hungry frog spies a caterpillar sitting on a twig. It


quietly creeps closer. T e caterpillar looks like an easy meal. Wrong. Suddenly, this puss moth caterpillar raises


its head. It waves two long, pink tentacles at the frog. T en it spits in the frog’s eye. T e spit stings. T e frog hops away as fast as it can. T e frog isn’t hurt, just startled. It will have to


find another meal. It won’t try eating that kind of caterpillar again. Like most caterpillars, the puss moth’s life


is full of danger. Predators lurk behind every leaf. Birds swoop down from the skies. Luckily, in a matter of weeks, caterpillars change into butterfl ies or moths. T ey just have to survive as caterpillars until then.


Is this a hairy spider? No, it’s the monkey slug caterpillar.


example. It’s a caterpillar with five horns. Its horns make it look deadly. Yet it only eats leaves—lots of leaves. T is caterpillar changes into a fuzzy, orange


and yellow moth. It’s called the regal moth. It doesn’t eat. It doesn’t even have a mouth. Caterpillars come in all shapes, sizes, and


colors. T ey can be woolly, spiny, bumpy, smooth, or even sticky. Some have spikes or horns. T e spurge hawk moth caterpillar is green with clusters of black and white spots. Rust-colored horns crown its head. Its tiny toes are tipped with red. Sometimes caterpillars don’t even look like


caterpillars. T e monkey slug caterpillar looks more like a hairy spider. Many fuzzy false legs grow from its body. T ese fake legs can confuse predators.


Inching up a stem, this caterpillar is looking for leaves.


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