Hawaiian 'Bone Collector' Caterpillar Discovered With Unique Camouflage and Predatory Behavior

This Sicko Caterpillar Wears the Bones of Its Victims

Welcome back to the Abstract! Beware: This week’s offerings are not for the faint of heart. There will be blood. There will be gore. There will be death. There will be…honeydew? First stop is a gladiator cemetery, which has got to be one of the most haunted varieties of burial ground. There is very bad mojo at a gladiator cemetery! This one is no exception. Next, meet a very hungry caterpillar with a very grotesque fashion sense and behold a hel…

In Hawaii, researchers were able to document how the bone collector's caterpillar weaves a camouflage cap from the remains of other animals.

Hawaii’s ‘bone collector’ caterpillar wears the body parts of dead prey

In a remote and lushly forested area of a single mountain range on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, scientists have discovered a carnivorous caterpillar species that makes a living in such a macabre way that they have nicknamed it the “bone collector.” The caterpillar prowls spider webs to scavenge trapped and helpless victims such as ants, beetles, weevils and flies, the researchers said. The crafty caterpillar camouflages itself from the spider, …

Hawaii’s ‘bone collector’ caterpillar wears the body parts of dead prey - West Hawaii Today

In a remote and lushly forested area of a single mountain range on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, scientists have discovered a carnivorous caterpillar species that makes a living in such a macabre way that they have nicknamed it the “bone collector.”

As rare as macabre: The newly discovered bone collector raupe carries a camouflage of body parts of its prey. The caterpillar occurs only on a single mountain slope on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu.

Meet the 'Bone Collector' Caterpillar: A Rare Hawaiian Insect That Wears Its Prey and Lives Among Spiders

Existing only within six square miles on the island of Oʻahu, scientists say it may be one of the strangest and most threatened species ever foundRubinoff lab, Entomology Section, University of Hawaii, Manoa Bone Collector CaterpillarA rare Hyposmocoma caterpillar, nicknamed the "bone collector," discovered in Oʻahu, Hawaii, uses dead insect parts to disguise itself on spider websThe newly identified species is carnivorous and cannibalistic, wit…