novinha transando com negão | Insects That Wear Things
Insects might be small and common, but their survival strategies are anything but ordinary. While many use camouflage in the form of concealing coloration, some special animals actually add materials from their surroundings to their bodies. Most of these unusual ensembles help them blend into their environment, allowing them to hide from hungry predators or sneak up on unsuspecting prey, but some accessories serve other purposes, providing weapons, armor, or a safe place to grow up. From larvae that glue together bits of sand to warriors that wear the corpses of their prey, learn about some of the fascinating insects that wear things.
novinha transando com negão - Eucalypt leaf skeletonizer: Its old heads
The caterpillar of the eucalypt (or gum) leaf skeletonizer (Uraba lugens), a species of moth found in Australia and parts of New Zealand, is sometimes known as the “mad hatterpillar,” and for good reason. Each time it molts, the previous head capsule (the exoskeleton of its head) remains attached to its current head, creating a creepy little tower of old heads arranged by size. Scientists believe that this macabre accessory helps foil predators by presenting a false target and also serves as a weapon to deflect attacks. If a little snowman made of heads isn’t intimidating enough, the caterpillar’s body is covered in venomous spines that can irritate human skin. The name skeletonizer refers to the caterpillar’s habit of stripping eucalyptus leaves down to their veins. The species is considered a serious pest in eucalyptus plantations, where heavy infestations can cause extensive defoliation and even tree death.
novinha transando com negão - Green lacewing: Tiny things
Green lacewings (family Chrysopidae) are delicate, bright-eyed insects best known for their gauzy green wings in adulthood and for being voracious, debris-carrying weirdos in adolescence. These larvae—often called “trash bugs” or “junk bugs”—decorate their backs with an eclectic assortment of materials, such as lichen, sand, plant fibers, shed insect skins, and even the remains of their prey. Using hooked bristles on their backs, they secure the debris into a portable camouflage cloak that conceals them from such predators as ants and spiders. Each larva’s trash pile reflects its surroundings: those living among moss may wear tufts of green, while others look like tiny moving heaps of dust. To reach adulthood, the larvae spin silken cocoons, leaving their juvenile trash collecting phase behind.
Assassin bug: Corpses
Certain assassin bugs of the genus Acanthaspis, found in Asia and Africa, have developed a particularly grisly form of camouflage: they decorate themselves with the corpses of their prey. After impaling and sucking their ant victims dry, the bugs use sticky threads to glue the empty exoskeletons onto themselves. Interestingly, though many of these assassin bugs eat a varied insect diet, only ants have been seen attached to their backs, and some species carry as many as 20 dead ants in a corpse pile often larger than the assassin bug itself. This grotesque disguise is thought to serve as both defense and deception. The mound of dead bodies distorts the bugs’ outlines, making them confusing and unrecognizable to such predators as jumping spiders. Ants are known to swarm and attack when threatened, so it may be that the visual display on the assassin bug looks like an intimidating swarm to a potential predator. Some researchers think that the scent of the dead ants may also play a role in this curious behavior, perhaps creating an olfactory warning to potential predators or helping the assassin bugs slip unnoticed among ants and other prey.
Bagworm moth: Sticks and debris
Bagworm moths of the family Pyschidae are named for the baglike cases the larvae construct around themselves from silk and bits of leaves, twigs, and other debris. The bagworm’s case helps protect the soft-bodied caterpillars and is also used during metamorphosis. The adult male emerges as a strong-bodied moth with broad, fringed wings, while the adult female stays wormlike and often never emerges from her decorated bag. In most species, she remains in her bag during mating and later deposits her eggs there before dying. Her young hatch and then get to work on their own twiggy cases.
Spittlebugs: Bubbles
Before they reach adulthood, many froghoppers (family Cercopidae) are known as spittlebugs for the whimsical bubble blankets they make to protect themselves. The whitish, mostly sedentary nymph secretes a fluid through the anus that is mixed with a secretion from the abdominal glands. Air bubbles are introduced through a special valve on the abdomen to create frothy spittle that surrounds the immature insect while it feeds. This foamy fortress helps it hide from enemies, insulates against temperature changes, and prevents the soft-bodied nymph from drying out. Spittlebugs are found nearly worldwide, living primarily on plants upon whose sap they feed, and the small patches of foam they create are often the only sign of their presence.
Tortoise beetle: Poop and molted exoskeletons
Tortoise beetles are a subfamily of beautiful leaf beetles—or at least, they’re beautiful when they are adults. Adult and larval tortoise beetles are fairly sedentary and have a preference for outer leaves, making them predictable and exposed targets for predators and parasites. Rather than move to evade predation, the larvae of certain tortoise beetles, including the South American Polychalca punctatissima and the North American argus tortoise beetle (Chelymorpha cassidea), have evolved a delightful umbrella of exoskeletons and fecal matter. During each molt, parts of the old exoskeleton are pushed back and attached to spines at the hind end of the larva’s body. To this is added extruded feces, creating what is known as a fecal shield to deter predators. At least one species, the Chinese Aspidimorpha furcata, can even move the shield to further discourage an enemy.
Casebearing leaf beetle: Poop from mom and self
Another group of leaf beetles that wear things are the casebearing leaf beetles. Wanting only the best for her offspring, the female covers each of her eggs with excrement as she lays them. After the larvae hatch, they retain this fecal covering as a case that somewhat resembles a slouchy hipster beanie, adding to it throughout their larval life. When disturbed, the larvae pull in their legs like a poop-shelled turtle and are ignored by predators.
Masked hunter: Lint and dust
The masked hunter, also known as the masked bedbug hunter (Reduvius personatus), is a nocturnal assassin bug that truly dresses for the occasion. As an immature nymph, its body, legs, and antennae become covered with sticky hairs that catch pieces of lint, dust, soil, and other debris—whatever it encounters, indoors or out. Such camouflage helps protect the immature insect from predators and allows it to ambush unwitting prey. Originally from Europe, the insect has been introduced into parts of North America, Australia, and India as well as other localities around the world, where it lives both outdoors and in human dwellings. Though considered a minor indoor nuisance, its stealthy habits make it a capable bedbug predator.
Bone-collecting caterpillar: Body parts
Discovered by science in 2025 and yet to be formally named, the incredibly rare and endangered “bone collector” caterpillar is one unusual insect. Found only on a single mountain range on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, this moth is a member of the genus Hyposmocoma and is among the 0.13 percent of caterpillars that is predatory. Rather than eat leaves, the caterpillar lurks inside spiderwebs, scavenging dead or weakened insects trapped there. It also sometimes engages in cannibalism. To avoid getting detected and eaten by its arachnid host, the caterpillar wears a silken case that it adorns with bits of inedible body parts—wings, legs, head capsules, even spider exoskeletons—foraged from the web.
- Related Topics:
- caddisfly
- masked hunter
- tortoise beetle
- froghopper
- Chrysopidae
Cased caddisfly: Sand, pebbles, and plants
In their larval stage, cased caddisflies (Potamophylax species) are known for their ingenious, pebbly cases that not only serve as protective armor, but also provide stability in aquatic habitats and may aid in obtaining oxygen from the water. The water-dwelling larva protects its soft body with a tubular case spun from silk produced by glands near its mouth. To strengthen this casing, it adds bits of sand, pebbles, or plant debris, creating a portal shelter that grows as the larva does. It seems that cased caddisfly larvae tailor their cases to the speed of the water around them. In swift streams, they use heavier minerals to build cases that keep them anchored against the current. In quiet pools or slow-moving creeks, their cases are lighter and often made of sand or bits of vegetation. Before pupating, the larva attaches the case to a rock or submerged stick and seals both ends. Inside this camouflaged and fortified chamber, it transforms into an adult caddisfly.
