What would cause a caterpillar to spit up a bright yellow sticky substance?
What would cause a caterpillar to spit up a bright yellow sticky substance? This particular caterpillar was spiny, dark grey with two rows of small orange spots running down its back. I suspect it’s a moth caterpillar but I’m not sure. I am currently in Japan and unable to identify this caterpillar, but I’m wondering if this is a behavior that other caterpillars might exhibit as well.
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Tags: bright, Caterpillar, cause, Japan, moth caterpillar, orange spots, spit, Sticky, sticky substance, substance, would, yellow
5 Responses to “What would cause a caterpillar to spit up a bright yellow sticky substance?”
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its biological defense. probably made from the types of plants it eats. many caterpillars do this, grasshoppers do to.
Wickepedia has this to say:
More aggressive self-defence measures are taken by the spitfires and hairy caterpillars. These caterpillars have spiny bristles or long fine hairs that will irritate anything that brushes against them, or spit acidic digestive juices at potential enemies. However, some birds, like cuckoos, will swallow the hairiest of caterpillars.
Yes, I used to play with those when I was in Ohio, they are all over the place around there. They are tent caterpillars, they are the ones that build those huge webs in the trees and they turn into those white or yellow moths that you see flying around.
That is typical behavior of a caterpillar, that is their defense. 
12 pints of Stella
are you looking at the correct end?