Anal horn
The Analhorn is a characteristic feature of caterpillars of Bombycoidea and provides a apomorphy represent this group particularly for belonging to this superfamily. Family of dreamers the Analhorn is typical; for this reason the caterpillars are called "hornworms" in the English language. The horn is located in the middle of the eighth abdominal segment. It can be straight or more or less strongly curved and is differently pronounced in the respective species. There are genera in which it is very long, and those in which it is reduced to a flat hump or completely absent. In young caterpillars, the horn is usually very long in relation to body size, but with progressive development the size decreases proportionally to the body.
In some species, a receding anal horn appears to mimic a blinking (mammalian) eye to scare off predators.
literature
- Ian J. Kitching, Jean-Marie Cadiou: Hawkmoths of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Revisionary Checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Cornell University Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-801-43734-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas J. Hossie, Thomas N. Sherratt, Daniel H. Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs: An eyespot that “blinks”: an open and shut case of eye mimicry in Eumorpha caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). In: Journal of Natural History. Volume 47, No. 45-46, 2013, pp. 2915-2926.