Hello little weired fellah!
- Thread starter rich59
- Start date
Is it one of these (rusty tussock moth - a.k.a. vapourer)? http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22000
Not sure if it's the same, but certainly looks very similar.
Geoff
Not sure if it's the same, but certainly looks very similar.
Geoff
uppy_dog hairy lil buggars
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
The trees in north london used to have a real serious problem with them. I am sure they are the critters that scoff fruit trees and then fall off landing down and falling down the neck of clothing, The dermatitis they produce is can be very nasty. I took to wearing a hood after seeing the hidious rash one of them gave my brother. Nice to know the name now though.
After a little reading I think my guy is off the hook. The N.London chappy was I think the Oak Processionary Moth - a different family and species - much more troublesome.
My chappie is certainly more cute!
My little guy certainly eats everything, and it has toxic hairs, but I don't think its the one that drops on people a lot.
Ahh ive had them all over me before big pile of them fell on my head but i had a hat on, I truly am scared of the little bleeders
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Yes rich59 your caterpillar is very cute,
.......but being good looking stop anything from been mean and nasty, it mearly means they have hope of getting away with it.
There is a foragers saying "All that is sweet is not good, and all that is bitter is not poison". Can be applied to alot things in life including cute little critters that happly scoff fruit trees in large numbers without falling off at all.
.......but being good looking stop anything from been mean and nasty, it mearly means they have hope of getting away with it.
There is a foragers saying "All that is sweet is not good, and all that is bitter is not poison". Can be applied to alot things in life including cute little critters that happly scoff fruit trees in large numbers without falling off at all.
So may be that is an evolutionary thing. Look cute but be horrible underneath! Any other examples of this rule?
While on the thought of evolution I am very puzzled by this guy's habits. Apparently most of the life cycle is spent as either a hibernating egg or as a caterpillar. For a brief period twice a year there is an adult stage. The male is a full fledged moth that never feeds and so dies very quickly. The female is wingless and never leaves the vacinity of its pupa. It just mates/ lays eggs (it also doesn't eat)
So... that means that it would only colonise a new territory as fast a caterpillar can eat its way. One would think that a winged female would have a distinct advantage in spreading them about. The strangeness of nature!
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
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So you have worked with young offenders then, by the sounds of it
In nature there is quite a few examples, of tastes sweet and is poisonous. Deadly nightshade fruit tastes like saccharin and tobacco. Quite a few deadly fungi taste and smell very mild. The fact they are toxic to us is probably more by accident as other creatures can consume them without effect
The bright colours and toxic hairs look like they are the advantage, as its larvae stage is seemingly important. The been cute to us is a side effect of looking really nasty to a bird, in the absence of the shear numbers game the oak moth plays where a good deal of its young end up squashed on islington pavements, dissuading predation is a logical evolutionary step.
On a more unnatural note severe personality disorders are often 'convincingly pleasant'. I have met socially the psychiatric nurse that watched the live feed of the CVS on southall,golden,samuals [BMJ96/pediatrics97]. I have also dealt with one simerlar case. The pleasant side seems to be a survival trait and coping strategy in these individuals.
So you have worked with young offenders then, by the sounds of it
In nature there is quite a few examples, of tastes sweet and is poisonous. Deadly nightshade fruit tastes like saccharin and tobacco. Quite a few deadly fungi taste and smell very mild. The fact they are toxic to us is probably more by accident as other creatures can consume them without effect
[/QUOTE]
The bright colours and toxic hairs look like they are the advantage, as its larvae stage is seemingly important. The been cute to us is a side effect of looking really nasty to a bird, in the absence of the shear numbers game the oak moth plays where a good deal of its young end up squashed on islington pavements, dissuading predation is a logical evolutionary step.
On a more unnatural note severe personality disorders are often 'convincingly pleasant'. I have met socially the psychiatric nurse that watched the live feed of the CVS on southall,golden,samuals [BMJ96/pediatrics97]. I have also dealt with one simerlar case. The pleasant side seems to be a survival trait and coping strategy in these individuals.
