Scientists discovered a caterpillar that lives in spider webs, eating the bugs that get stuck - including the spider that ...

The species, dubbed the "bone collector," belongs to an ancient lineage of moths older than the Hawaiian island of Oahu, which is the only place it's known to live today ...

This is exactly what has happened with Papilio solstitius, a tiger swallowtail butterfly newly recognized as a separate ...

It belongs to an unusual genus called Hyposmocoma moths, known as fancy case caterpillars in their larval stage. Much as hermit crabs borrow shells, fancy case caterpillars craft elaborate homes ...

It isn’t often that you see spiders and caterpillars cohabitating. Caterpillars are often at the very bottom of the food chain, so it’s very unusual to find a species that isn’t. Thanks to their ...

Carnivory itself is unusual for caterpillars. Among butterflies and moths, 99.9 percent eat plants or fungi, Rubinoff says. But bone collector caterpillars slink through cobwebs in rotted logs ...

Unfortunately, the unique caterpillar’s continued survival is likely under threat, since it’s only known to exist on a single mountain range on one Hawaiian island. Caterpillars are the larval ...

Caterpillars are the moth's larval stage ... the "bone collector" is the only one known to find food the way it does, making it unique among the world's animals. "The more we can understand ...

The unique epithet befits a unique animal, Rubinoff said. “No other caterpillar is stupid enough to live in a spider’s web,” he said. “Because spiders eat caterpillars.” “It has to ...

Essentially, the spiders have never been observed attacking or eating these caterpillars. Another unusual trait is the caterpillar's exclusive choice of insect parts or spider exoskeletons for ...