RE: THE PROCESSION
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Wonderful caterpillar (and spider) shots. I've read about the processionary caterpillars. Some people have had serious allergic reactions to them, and serious eye problems because the hairs can float through the air and get embedded in the eye. Sorry for that unpleasant note to your wonderful blog. You probably know all this already :)
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Hehehe :) It's ok, this is all part of the charm of this species. There is a bit of potential danger related to these caterpillar, so the problematic hair and allergic reaction must be a part of conversation. It's like talking about a venomous snake and not talk a bit about what its venom can do.
It's a very sophisticated and effective protection against predators ... and they develop this highly irritating mechanism only when almost ready to pupate. "At the fourth and fifth instar stages, their tegument comprises two different kinds of hairs: true non-removable hairs and removable urticarial setae" ... so this is a protection specifically for their procession adventure that brings them in the open, before that they rely more on their nest and secretive nighttime feeding to avoid the troubles.
Thank you for that expanded explanation :)
:)))