From Incredible to Ordinary: Wattle Cup Caterpillar

 

 Habitat: widespread in northern Australia

Status: No Conservation Concerns

This amazingly fierce-looking caterpillar is the larva of the Wattle Cup Moth (Calcarifera ordinata). It undergoes a remarkable transformation from being brightly colored with spots of blue and red and streaks of yellow and green to a dull cream color (shown below). The caterpillars resemble slugs in their movements, using their sticky undersides to pull themselves along. 

You may want to handle this beautiful caterpillar… but definitely DO NOT! Those spines along its body give off an incredibly potent sting which has been described as “worse than three wasp stings.” Not something you’d want to experience, I’m thinking.