Stinging Caterpillar

Identification - Limacodidae, Setora nitens - Coconut Nettle caterpillar.

I found this glorious caterpillar just peaking over the edge of a banana leaf, all that was visible were the spiky horns. I nearly walked away, but I have a policy of checking every single dried leaf, scrap of bark, seed head or any other anomaly. So I pulled the leaf down and there she was.

In a totally useless location for photography, I chased her onto my hand and relocated on a lower leaf of the same tree, in the morning light for a session of snapping. I took shots from many angles, to capture the detail for my collection, but choosing an angle for a single shot for a blip is a problem. At about an inch long and with all those spiky protrusions, depth of field was going to be a huge problem.

I chose this image because it demonstrates the dangerous spines and also the wonderful colors and patterns. I could easily do a week of blips, concentrating on a different feature each day, but that would not be possible without taking her home and my pillartarium is currently occupied.

The caterpillar is also called the stinging nettle caterpillar. A strange name, as there are no nettles here in Indonesia, at least I have not found any. But, I read that if you touch the spines of this creature, you can expect 24 hours of pain and discomfort. I guess I got away with it, as I lightly chased her onto my hand.

The coconut nettle is the caterpillar of the cup moth, a rather boring mottled brown moth. If you Google setora nitens, you will mostly find images of the caterpillar. Supposedly a feeder of the coconut palm, on which it is regarded as a pest, but it is known to feed on a number of other plants.

I have all but given up searching banana trees for insects, as very little is found. There must be toxins in the leaves that repel most insects, but still, there are one or two that do feed on banana leaves.

Dave