Figures 14.6


A caterpillar of the orchard butterfly, Papilio aegeus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), with the osmeterium everted behind its head.
Figures 14.6. A caterpillar of the orchard butterfly, Papilio aegeus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), with the osmeterium everted behind its head.

Eversion of this glistening, bifid organ occurs when the larva is disturbed and is accompanied by a pungent smell.

Previous figure

  The distasteful and warningly colored caterpillars of the cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), on ragwort, Senecio jacobaeae.
Next figure

  An aggregation of sawfly larvae (Hymenoptera: Pergidae: Perga) on a eucalypt leaf.