Hi Deep Look and KQED Science Fans, The caterpillar of a grass skipper butterfly will surprise you with its craftiness. Right after it hatches from a pinhead-sized egg on a blade of grass, it lays strands of silk between the blade’s two edges. As the silk dries and shrinks, it pulls the edges close to each other. In a few minutes, the caterpillar builds itself a shelter that I can only describe as a grass taco. When the caterpillar gets bigger, it builds itself new tacos. You’ll see these caterpillars hard at work in the video we’re sharing with you today. They eventually become speedy flying machines that perform acrobatic courtship dances in midair, which you’ll also get to enjoy in our video.
A skipper caterpillar’s skinny neck gives it plenty of room to sway its head back and forth to lay down its strands of silk between the two edges of a blade of grass.
Photo: The Palisades Fire burns in the hillside above the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Thurs. Jan. 9, 2025.(Beth LaBerge/KQED)
🐛Before it builds itself a snug home in a blade of grass, a grass skipper caterpillar first weaves a luxurious silk mat so it won’t slip off the grass. It extrudes the silk through a pointy mouthpart called the spinneret. ✈️Most grass skipper butterflies hold their two sets of wings at different angles, which makes them look like tiny jet planes. Scientists call this the “bombardier” position. (Most butterflies keep their two sets of wings at the same angle.) 💪They are some of the fastest butterflies on the planet. Their strong flying muscles make them look chunky. 🦋They look like they are skipping or darting around in midair, which is how they got their name. 💕They have frisky, acrobatic courtship dances and they do a whole lot of fluttering to spread their pheromones to attract a mate.
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Name That Critter!
This caterpillar only devours a particular California vine. This plant makes poisonous compounds that keep other animals away and could give you and me kidney cancer if we ate it. Surprisingly, the caterpillar has evolved to depend on the vine, which is its only food. The caterpillar turns the poison into its own weapon. As it chomps away on the vine, it accumulates the toxins in its body and makes itself noxious to predators. Its orange spikes signal to predators that it’s toxic. This is the caterpillar of what butterfly? Find the answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Butterflies and Caterpillars: Delicate But Mighty
Discover the delicate and fascinating world of butterflies and caterpillars, and what they do to survive in this special Deep Look playlist.
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ANSWER TO NAME THAT CRITTER
California pipevine butterfly! The caterpillar with the orange spikes metamorphoses into a butterfly with bright blue and orange wings. It lays its eggs, which are crusted with orange toxins, on the California pipevine to bring forth a new generation. Find out more in our video: The Pipevine Caterpillar Thrives in a Toxic Love Triangle
