Why do poisonous caterpillars dance?

It was in 1998, and as a professor at the University of Toronto, Canada, this is not the first time Mr. Darling licks a worm. But that was the first time the professor licked the taste of a caterpillar, a Calindoea trifascialis. The scientist's tongue reacted positively to the caterpillar's fur and was immediately paralyzed.

'You just picked up the caterpillar, and just tapped it on your tongue as if you tasted the fruit' , he said. 'It doesn't really taste, it just numbs the tongue'.

When Darling and his students began studying the orange-yellow caterpillar, they noticed that the caterpillar's body secreted a strange liquid from its glands. Instead of performing a test to determine the composition of this liquid, Darling decided to try licking it. He had tongue paralysis, which meant that the caterpillar defended itself with a 'chemical self-defense' substance .

'I persuaded some students to try to lick the caterpillar and also to make sure the caterpillar's reaction was the same as when I licked it , ' Darling said. Professor Darling later identified the composition of the chemical as a mixture of hydrocabons and hydrogen cyanid e, a poison covering the body of the insect.

Caterpillar Calindoea trifascialis.(Photo: Kim Humpreys)

Darling and Kim Humphreys, one of his former students, are now co-authors of a paper published in Biology Letters about another aspect of these beetles' amazing abilities - the ability leap.

Jumping caterpillars are really rare, and scientists speculate that the caterpillar larva Calindoea trifascialis jumps to avoid heat. The temperature in their habitats in Vietnam can reach 95 degrees F (35 degrees C), and that makes it difficult for an insect to live near the ground.

These moths can jump dozens of times a minute to find shadows , but they don't know where they'll jump, Darling said.

That's because moths are jumping around with 'tents' on their backs. When a caterpillar swells, it uses its teeth to cut a hole in a leaf and then, diligently, it pulls the leaf around its head and solidifies with silk. This homemade tent is filled with the stench of toxic chemicals and protects the caterpillar from any predator, such as ants.

'You can imagine that you are in a cramped space and full of the unpleasant smell of caterpillars , ' Darling said. 'When meat-eaters (ants) crawl into a tent, they are basically losing their energy. They are defeated and unconscious. '

However, the tent also prevents the caterpillars from flying well, and takes more energy to move.

'Everyone is excited about the caterpillars' jumping behavior just because it's so cute,' Darling said. 'Need a great force to push the body and leaf up'.

'It performs better: The caterpillar actually jumps back with its head spinning away from its intended direction. The next step we need to make is to figure out why and study the mechanism. Biology in a jumping caterpillar , "Darling said.

Perhaps while there, the professor would choose to repeat his old experience and lick the moth again. After all, Darling admitted there was a penchant for licking these bugs.'It's not the first bug I've ever tasted'.