Leaf Tents Hide Caterpillars

photograph of green caterpillar rolled in leaf of tree

Biological Strategy

AskNature Team

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Protect From Animals

Animals–organisms that range from microscopic to larger than a bus–embody a wide variety of harms to living systems, including other animals. They threaten through predation, herbivory, defense, and parasitism, and they compete for resources such as water, nutrients, and space. Any given living organism commonly faces threats from a variety of animals, requiring strategies that effectively defend from each. Trout and other bony fish, for example, escape predators by having scales made of very thin, flake-like pieces of bone covered with slippery mucus. They also have behavioral strategies such as camouflage, fast swimming, and twisting and turning to achieve release from a predator’s grip.

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Insects

Class Insecta (“an insect”): Flies, ants, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, dragonflies

Insects are the most abundant arthropods—they make up 90% of the animals in the phylum. They’re found everywhere on earth except the deep ocean, and scientists estimate there are millions of insects not yet described. Most live on land, but many live in freshwater or saltwater marshes for part of their life cycles. Insects have three distinct body sections: a head, which has specialized mouthparts, a thorax, which has jointed legs, and an abdomen. They have well-developed nervous and sensory systems, and are the only invertebrate that can fly, thanks to their lightweight exoskeletons and small size.

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Bornean moths protect themselves from birds by creating leaf tents.

“In the rain forests of Borneo, one small moth caterpillar constructs a most ingenious device that enables it to feed out of the sight of hungry birds. It starts work on the margin of a leaf and chews a cut inwards as though it were about to remove a semicircular segment. But when it reaches the farthest extent of the curve and seems about to arch back towards the margin, it stops and returns to the edge of the leaf. It walks along it and makes another cut as if to complete the semicircle from the other direction. But just before it joins the first cut, it stops. The segment is now attached only by a small hinge. The caterpillar next spins silken threads across the hinge between the segment and the rest of the leaf. As the silk dries, it contracts. This first hoists the segment into the air and then brings it down on top of the caterpillar. Now, working from beneath, the caterpillar makes a short slit at right angles to the cut edge of the segment. It converts the segment into a tiny dome. The whole process takes a couple of hours. As a result of all this ingenious labour, the caterpillar can nibble away at the leaf surface beneath, safe from the eyes and beaks of hungry birds.” (Attenborough 1995:56-58)