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You Need to Know About This Caterpillar

2019-09-13 · explainer · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: Curiosity & trivia · tags: recurring series, self promotion

Hank tells John most caterpillars become moths, not butterflies, then explains the regal moth and its harmless but fierce-looking caterpillar, the hickory horned devil: mouthless saturniid adults live only to breed, so caterpillars must eat enormously.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Most caterpillars become moths; what a moth is, and the name's branding problem

  • ★★★ Hank says most caterpillars do not become butterflies: any given caterpillar has a 90% chance of becoming a moth instead. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Butterflies form a group with a single common ancestor, while moths are simply any scale-winged insect that isn't a butterfly, whatever its relationships. — 00:00:28
  • ★ Hank says moths have a branding problem: 'butterfly' is a beautiful word, while 'moth' is a name we're stuck with. (playful) — 00:00:28

00:00:55 — The regal moth and the hickory horned devil: why the caterpillar is so big and looks so fierce

  • ★★★ Hank's main subject is the regal moth, chosen for its unforgettable caterpillar, the hickory horned devil. — 00:00:55
  • ★★ The hickory horned devil looks fierce but cannot sting or bite and is neither venomous nor poisonous; it is good eating and too big to hide from raccoons and possums. — 00:00:55
  • ★★ The hickory horned devil is the largest caterpillar in the US. — 00:01:44 · United States
  • ★★★ Saturniid moths, over a thousand species including this one, have no mouths as adults: once a saturniid caterpillar pupates, it never eats again. — 00:01:44
  • ★★★ These caterpillars eat two to three times their body weight in leaves daily and grow over a thousand times in size in a month, juicing leaves rather than digesting the cellulose. — 00:02:13
  • ★ Hank credits the time-lapse footage to John the Butterfly Farmer, whose channel he calls amazing, and thanks him and Bart for their moth footage. — 00:02:13
  • ★★ Males fly, sometimes for miles, sniffing out a female with sensitive feathery antennae; the female spends all her energy making hundreds of very large eggs. — 00:02:42
  • ★★ The female regal moth does not fly until it mates and, unmated, dies waiting; adults must mate and lay eggs within their seven days of adult life. — 00:02:42
  • ★★★ The saturniid strategy: the moth phase exists only to breed, so the caterpillar must store fats and proteins, growing big and nutritious, a perfect snack that must look ridiculously fierce. — 00:03:12
  • ★★ Hank says most people, like predators, find the caterpillars not worth the risk though they are harmless, and asks people to be nice: they are a marvel, if a little terrifying. (playful) — 00:03:12

00:03:41 — Bizarre Beasts Pin Club double pin; thanks to the footage makers

  • ★★ The Bizarre Beasts Pin Club was so successful that this month (September 2019), one time only, members get two pins: the caterpillar and the moth; Hank thanks everybody who signed up. — 00:03:41 · DFTBA Pin Pals

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says Citheronia regalis, a 'giant silk moth', makes no silk: it digs into the ground to pupate instead of building a cocoon, so its family name Saturniidae fits better. — video description
  • ★★ The description says there are over 2400 saturniid species, all with the same life cycle: they gorge as caterpillars and use the flying adult stage only to find a mate. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Hank opens on the familiar idea that caterpillars become butterflies. — 00:00:00

    “Well, that is a lie.”

  • 'Butterfly' spoonerizes to 'flutter by'; then there is 'moth'. — 00:00:28

    “Sounds like the noise you make when a moth flies into your mouth.”

  • Hank explains why the hickory horned devil looks the way it does. — 00:00:55

    “it's basically a hot dog with legs.”

  • Predators eyeing the plump, harmless caterpillar. — 00:03:12

    “Pretty much anything would see this juicy boy and think that is not worth the risk”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Citheronia regalis · moth · Saturniidae

Also: butterfly · caterpillar · DFTBA Pin Pals · Lepidoptera · United States

Only in the description or credits: Bart Coppens · The Butterfly Farmer

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