Imagine you are a small, hungry bird. In the shadows of the forest you spot a juicy caterpillar. Slow, soft and full of protein — the perfect, easy-to-catch snack. But this caterpillar is covered in menacing spikes. You remember how painful it was to capture the last one like it, and move on to find easier prey. Spikes just saved the caterpillar’s life.
The larvae of many insects are tucked away in the safety of a rotten log or the flesh of a dead, or even live, animal. Some even make their own shelter of sand, leaf parts or insect remains. But caterpillars — the larvae of butterflies and moths — have to find leaves for food while fending for themselves without these defences, and just about every other animal — birds, mammals, reptiles and large insects — wants to eat them.
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