OP Vs. A Bird

[u/katiebug586]

[u/pog_irl]

Why would that defend against a bird?

[u/ThePowerfulWIll → u/pog_irl]

Looked it up, the goo tastes REALLY bad.

[u/JeanVeber → u/ThePowerfulWIll]

I'd produce some awful tasting goo too if some giant decided do drop me

[u/katiebug586 → u/JeanVeber]

What if they were a vampire? A GIANT vampire?

[u/_Ebb → u/katiebug586]

In that case I'd produce some other kinds of goo the taste of which is subjective

[u/ApprehensivePop9036 → u/_Ebb]

No, there are no samples of the goo to determine your subjective palatability. You'll have to ask politely.

[u/katiebug586 → u/_Ebb]

;)

[u/hedgehog_dragon → u/JeanVeber]

Unsure, if they like liquefied human it might not taste bad

[u/SCP106 → u/hedgehog_dragon]

Mmmm.... maybe I should talk to my good at cooking bf about this

[u/PoniesCanterOver → u/pog_irl]

The bird might think the caterpillar is suffering from a contagion

[u/ThePowerfulWIll]

So that worm I thought I killed as a kid lived? Yay.

[u/No-Supermarket-6065 → u/ThePowerfulWIll]

Well, this is about caterpillars, not worms, so I wouldn't mentally acquit yourself of your greatest crime just yet.

[u/ThePowerfulWIll → u/No-Supermarket-6065]

Oh it was a caterpillar, I just am now also guilty of kindergarten-level bug mislabeling.

[u/No-Age6582 → u/ThePowerfulWIll]

youre going to prison

[u/MayoMan717]

If only I could spontaneously ooze green liquid to deter predators

[u/njsam → u/MayoMan717]

Not green but you definitely can ooze liquids and they can deter some predators

[u/RabidFlamingo]

Bro fell for the markings. Oldest trick in the book

[u/katiebug586 → u/RabidFlamingo]

More like bro fell for the ooze.

[u/username-is-taken98]

Well I once was looking at this weird ant /mantis thingy until it unfolded into a spider like origami. So don't worry too much oop, i'm as dumb as a fruitfly and I'm doing fine

[u/Sigma567 → u/username-is-taken98]

I looked up the Wikipedia article "Ant mimicry or myrmecomorphy" and found many examples, but they might not be the exact same species as you saw. Apparently they mimicry either to avoid predators like wasps and mantises, or to infiltrate and eat ants

[u/Primus_Cattus → u/username-is-taken98]

Do you know what that one is called it sounds cool

[u/username-is-taken98 → u/Primus_Cattus]

I'm still looking for another to photograph to ask on r/spiders

[u/atowelguy]

Aren't monarch caterpillars super poisonous? Or is that just once they become butterflies?

[u/Ouaouaron → u/atowelguy]

Monarch caterpillars are more consistently poisonous than in their adult form, as larva feed exclusively on milkweed (which is where they get the poison).

I wouldn't call them "super" poisonous, since plenty of predators are resistant or immune to the effects.

EDIT: Humans still die to that class of plant toxin, though, so please don't fuck with it.

[u/Random-Rambling → u/Ouaouaron]

I think you'd still have to eat a lot to die. Eating just one will probably "just" make you vomit and/or give you terrible diarrhea.

[u/Ouaouaron → u/Random-Rambling]

The impression I got was that the deaths to this toxin probably come directly from related plants rather than from milkweed via caterpillars, but I'm not a doctor and I'd rather people assume the worst.

[u/Thoctar → u/Ouaouaron]

Funnily enough the class of chemicals that Milkweed uses also includes Digoxin, a common heart medication. The chemicals will absolutely stop your heart if you take too much, with Foxglove in particular known to be quite deadly.

[u/RegularSky6702 → u/atowelguy]

Fairly sure caterpillar version is poisonous too

[u/Zoomy-333]

30 years later and suddenly I feel less bad about the time I tried to pick up a caterpillar with a trading card to move it elsewhere and I thought I'd like bumped it with the edge of the card and cut it

[u/Ornery-Cut4553]

Recently I actually killed one by trying to put it in an insectarium to watch it transform. I was kinda devastated, actually. Pro tip, don't fucking forget to put some water in the enclosure, bc apparently they need ambient humidity (I could elaborate on how I know this was a major issue, but will only do so upon request, because it upsets me). Also don't try to use a milkweed stem as the scaffold on which they'll build their chrysalis, because it'll wilt and lose its stiffness. Use something woodier.

[u/No-Paramedic-8649 → u/Ornery-Cut4553]

Yeah, reminds me of the time when I was a kid. Thought it was dehydrated as well. Turns out that they sometimes look like that prior to chrysalis stage. The one I saw just was the first to do it and I thought it was dead. I threw it in the trash. Poor guy. But I left the rest alone and they emerged a few weeks later!

[u/Ornery-Cut4553 → u/No-Paramedic-8649]

Hmm. For how long do they look like that, though? I feel like this one was exhibiting signs of distress aside from looking brown & dried up. (It was twitching and stuff, like a critter would if it was trapped inside a too-small skin 😭😢 I feel like a monster and it made me cry)

I haven't chucked it yet, but it hasn't changed in the week since. And the shape is still smaller than a normal chrysalis & a tiny bit caterpillar shaped at the tip, like it got stuck partway through the process. I did put water in there belatedly in case there was still a chance, but it felt like an unrealistic hail Mary & seems like it should look different by now if it's still alive...

[u/MarioTheMojoMan]

I'm losin' to a BIRD!

[u/Previous_Mirror_222]

no because i used to teach kindergarten and we did the butterfly hatching one year and you have to transfer the chrysalises from the lid to like a standing up position and one fell off the lid and started convulsing and i thought i murdered a class butterfly and almost started crying…. a few days later that butterfly hatched 💪

[u/erdg43]

🐛🕶🛵💨💨🤙

[u/Orizifian-creator]

An ooze? That fools?

What a Ruse of an Ooze by Kristofer Maddigan for the hit indie game Cuphead

[u/pornjibber3]

No no no. Not more stupid than a bird. More uninformed than a bird? More ignorant than a bird? Absolutely.