It’s my birthday!
I’m 34.
Thirty. Four. (And still in school, lulz!)
This fun-loving fella is helping me celebrate by wearing his party hat today! 😀

Harris’ Three-Spot (Harrisimemna trisignata)
Seriously, is that not one wild outfit?
The Harris’ Three-Spot caterpillar is a crazy-looking critter. What I first mistook for a discoloured leaf, closer inspection revealed to be a caterpillar. Then I thought it was a diseased caterpillar, though, because its shape was all gnarly and twisted and it had a weird white band around the middle (which I mistook for a fuzzy fungus).

Not terrifically healthy-looking, amirite?
But then I poked it (I can’t help myself) and realized that it was NOT diseased; rather, it was quite healthy and also TREMENDOUSLY COOL (though possibly the ugliest caterpillar I’ve ever seen). Yes, folks, we have another poop-mimic!
Not only is it a poop-mimic, but it is also a poop-mimic that carries around its own molted head capsules! What is this for? What does it do? Presumably it offers some kind of defense – a decoy, perhaps? We don’t know, really. But we do know they can get a little carried away with this stunt at times.
OH! And also, when you poke it, it does a crazy twist-n-shout kind of wobbly smacking-thrashing that is something to behold. Mine never cooperated when I had the camera rolling, but The Weird Bug Lady (over at Caterpillar Blog) managed to catch one in the act.
I’m going to treat myself to a nice long walk in the bush today to see what other weird and wonderful bits of nature I can find 🙂

Ok, maybe kind of neat-looking. In an ugly sort of way. 😛
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I always celebrate with a walk in the bush! Nice ugly caterpillar. And happy birthday!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday!! Hope you get to spend some great time outdoors exploring.
HB BG! if you think your getting old, just remember that I had my first legal beer at the time of your conception!
Love that last shot.
Happy belated birthday and super cool picture. I was driving by the time you were born.