Baby caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies and moths. They belong to the order Lepidoptera. Caterpillars being voracious feeders, are very hungry creatures. Their only job is to eat, eat and eat. They are also notorious plant pests. 

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The young caterpillar is called a larva instead of a nymph and is very different from the adults. They also eat different types of food as well. Caterpillars eat about 27000 times their body weight. They are also dubbed as “eating machines” and “most destructive Agricultural pests”. This article will describe the physical appearance of baby caterpillars and how do they look like.

What Baby Caterpillars Look Like?

Young caterpillars have soft, cylindrical bodies containing segments. Like other insects, they also have three body parts; head, thorax, and abdomen. A Caterpillar has six pairs of small eyes arranged in a semicircle and is known as stemmata. The eyes are not true eyes. They are not able to detect images but can differentiate between light and dark. They have got small hair all over their bodies called setae. They have short segmented antennae and strong jaws.

Caterpillars physically camouflage themselves to bird droppings or sticks to protect themselves from their natural enemies. Some Caterpillars developed fake eyes to scare off birds. Young Caterpillars used their head to judge depths and distances. They breathe through small holes, known as spiracles. They can sense touch with the help of setae and antennae present on their bodies.

Baby Caterpillars may have up to five pairs of false legs called prolegs. They only use three pairs of legs on the thorax. They also these three pairs when they turn into an adult. Interestingly, a young Caterpillar has up to 4000 muscles in its soft body. A Caterpillars’ head has 248 muscles alone. It moves its head from side to side at times to estimate depths and distances.