WHY I LIKE TO PINCH CATERPILLARS IN THE BUTT (DON'T JUDGE ME)

in #nature7 years ago (edited)

This is why I like to pinch caterpillars in their butts.


Yes, you heard me right, but before you judge me, hear me out…

This particular caterpillar, although it sports the same colors as a Monarch caterpillar, happens to be from the species known as the Eastern Black Swallowtail.

Besides eventually turning into a beautiful butterfly, these caterpillars have something else incredible that they can do, which is why I like to pinch them in the butt. Check out the video.

@Papa-pepper pinching caterpillars in their butts.

WHY YOU GOTTA BE PINCHING THEM IN THE BUTTS, PAPA?

The caterpillars of the Eastern Black Swallowtail have a special defense mechanism. Hidden behind their head is an organ called a "osmeteria." This organ is usually bright orange and the caterpillars will use it when they feel threatened. Pinching them in the butt is just one way to "threaten" them.

Here is the pinch...


Here is the osmeteria...


The organ is covered in a type of chemical repellent, so if the sudden appearance of giant, orange tubercles popping out of its neck doesn't freak the predator out, then hopefully the chemicals will.

Obviously, I was having some fun here, but any wild animal can be dangerous. It is important to know what you dealing with, even if you just want to pinch a wild creature in the butt.

You never know what'll pop out!

As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:


proof-of-eastern-black-swallowtail-caterpillar



Until next time…

Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com


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I did not expect that i'd actually find this interesting but the title "Why I like to pinch caterpillars in the butt don't judge me" grabbed my attention and YES it was in fact quite entertaining, and informative!

That's pretty awesome, did you discover this about them on your own or read about it somewhere and decide to go play a bit?

Figured it out a few years back, then researched later.

haha that's awesome, keep it up brother!

Glad you liked the title too!

does the chemicals of its omesteria harmful in case it touches our skin ?

Great post! ^^

and stop killing me on steempocalipse LoL

Don't think so, we just wash it off.

This post received a 2% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @andyluy! For more information, click here!

Loving your caterpillar adventures. This one is a real beauty! And that headwaters! Wow.

Thanks. I thought it was pretty cool!

Um...@papa-pepper, why do you have remnants of pink fingernail polish on your fingers?
Ha ha ha ha.... cool post. Me like. ☺

I had help from the @little-peppers for the photo shoot.

Ha ha ha...very cool! ♥ Love it!

←Following you now→


I am new to the community and decided to take a look at trending to get an idea of what Steemit was like. So I see this title about pinching a caterpillar in the butt and it was actually very educational. Thanks

Now @papa-pepper...your post on pinching caterpillars reminds me of my 4 brothers who had pets ranging from rabbits to snakes, terrorised me constantly with all the creatures :) A fully grown rabbit was slaughtered once (sounds dreadful I know!), they cooked it and one brother collected every single bone and rebuilt the skeleton which was on display in a local high school's biology class for many years. The poor frogs were also terrorised but that's another story, suffice to say they had curious minds! Really enjoyed your post :):)

Cool, thanks for sharing the memories!

It's really funny when you pinch the pokemon caterpie lol

wow I learnt something today. I will go and pinch a caterpillar in the ass. I like your caterpillar adventure , cool. Thanks for sharing.

Also thanks for organising a great contest here which motivated me to write my new post relating to being depressed and how steemit will help.I mentioned you there-feel free to see it and send in your thoughts-more success

cooool

welcome

Cool

what is cool ? pinching a caterpillar in the ass ???

So elegant, I've never seen a caterpillar do that before. Thanks for sharing!

its a snail not a caterpillar lol

LOL - Suddenly a slug sticks its head out from inside the caterpillar!

Is that a cluster of carrot seeds?

We always pinch the swallowtail caterpillars.... I think a different species than this one. They eat our dill plants.

I hate to tell you, but our pinch is harder than yours...oops!

Tubercles huh?! Haha, I learned a new word!

Yes, Wild Carrot seed.

wow, did not know that a caterpillars has that kind of defense mechanism. thanks for sharing all that, and also i was going to judge you before reading the whole post... ha ha ha

Hahaha pervert! :D

I seriously didn't know they can do that :p Pretty cool!

Wow..
Nice one as always @papa-pepper
Now learnt why and gonna join you & pinch them caterpillar's in the butt! Nice video...good vegetation...great post

Oh, I see him suffering when you pinched him. haha. But looks cute either.
Great post sir! I wonder how beautiful it could be to become a butterfly.

Regards,
Mike

if you have time, check my latest post. thanks! Im new on Steemit. Cheers!

I always get to learn something from your posts brother. Keep up the good work :)

Thanks! Glad that you like it!

Hi, I really enjoy your post and the caterpillar adventures.

I just thought you should know I noticed the following post right after you had posted yours - https://steemit.com/nature/@jamhasnain/why-i-like-to-pinch-caterpillars-in-the-butt

Freaked out when the head went back and I'm a rock chick that listens to rhcp!!

I used to do a lot of that (listening to rhcp)

wowwww it is a beautifull post and allways smile my friend..!

nice poss

Love your videos mate!

Glad to hear it! Thanks.

This is the internet we dont judge.

btw I think i just tainted your post.

Oh no!!¡!!!!!!

Do you know the thing about numbers......?

They are just numbers. Yep. They don't convey any magical powers. True story!

So....pretty sure @papa-pepper is 100% safe.

That is good news! Thanks mate!

Very interesting. happy to see how gently you treated the caterpillars!

They were fine, just enough to get them to react. Thanks!

Well done!

Wow...great i saw his hidden organ...thanks for the video and pictures as always @papa-pepper

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Your posts are always an avenue for me to learn new things. I now know

caterpillar has a defense mechanism.

Thank you for sharing sir. This is quite informative
Is the chemical harmful to human?

I've never tasted it, so I can't say for sure.

You'll have to wait your turn, sir.

I have never seen any of these, would never have foud out as I dont touch stuff I don't know but this was very interesting. Thanks for sharing with us.

@bigbear the best teacher, Glad you check this out.......

I wrote something new too on reputation, kindly check my blog ma

Nice macro photography @papa-pepper. Video is amazing. There are many wonders in the animal world, eastern black swallowtail caterpillar is one of them.

Really it's a amazing post from all the sides.

That's really cool! Did you know they did this it was it just an adventure in pinching!

I found out during a previous butt-pinching adventure.

nice

The caterpillar is very cute .

This caterpillaar adventure is so fun though, I will try it sometime whenever I see any in my garden or when am out on the field

I think if someone pinched me on the butt I would do a similar thing!! ;-)
Very cool caterpillar though.

Well organised and intriguing article.
Really cool

Haha now thats a cool little fella, good defence :)

I never seen anything like that your pictures and explanations of the defense abilities were pretty cool bet no magpies will be having that wiggly as tucker aye?any how I follow your blog and think this was really cool thanks for taking the time and effort in this post to drop a big ol' knowledge bomb on us all.Cheers m8.

wow, amazing caterpillar.

When I read the title I was going to say "No Papa Pepper, don't pinch caterpillars in the butt!" lol but after reading your post, I can see the appeal!😂😂
I am however now tempted to go around pinching wild animals in the butt... not sure this will end well...lol

Cute caterpillars,nice to learn something new. But I wouldn't go around touching caterpillars. Here in Africa we have some hairy caterpillars that are poisonous. Once they walk on your skin u get swellings and blisters, have you come across these?

There are some dangerous species here too, hence the warning : be careful when pinching butts of caterpillars.

Waao @papa-pepper thanks for telling about this special Caterpillar and it's reminds me of pockemon :)

wow, super. are you not afraid of it? I will be :-)

Cute Eastern caterpillar ,with green and black color I love it.dude

Ok that's really cool. I've never seen that before. Looks kind of like a snail but also a caterpillar.

hello papa
i like this animal you
and support me help me to post and blog steemit

Haha! Beautiful! I learned something today thanks to you. Who needs Discovery Channel when we have you 😂👍

LOL - Thanks for that! Very encouraging!

LOL You are such a child of nature, always exploring it all!

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