From Wikimalia
The Bug Collection
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Bellamane's Needleworm
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Habitat: | Tropical and sub-tropical regions.
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Description: | Colored a jungle yellow-green in blurred patches, this caterpillar is approximately two to three thums in length. Its posterior displays a pair of flexible hooked appendages which serve no apparent purposes. Thin for a caterpillar, its movement is stiff and generally linear.
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Notes: | The most noteworthy characteristic of this larva is its daunting appetite. They do not seem to rest, and will easily consume more than ten times their body weight in a single day, leaving behind a rather unseemly trail of mucusy green waste as they travel. They do not seem overtly selective in the types of greeen leaves they will eat, but a dozen or so specimens can denude a full-grown tree in the matter of a single week.
They can be described as territorial, although they only seem aggressive toward other members of their own specie, likely a result of competition for food. They are known to chew through the stem of a leaf upon which a rival is feeding, sending leaf and rival plummeting to the ground.
This is the larval form of the Magenta Taffeta Moth.
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Named for its resemblance to Bellamane's mythological twin-barbed darning needle, this caterpillar is reputed to possess magical powers, likely stemming from its silk-weaving trait.
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