A Quick Question,

what is it?

here is a clue, the photograph was taken in Ecuador, given where it comes from this creature has a camouflaged back and is trying and succeeding to make itself look like a Tarantula Spider, but what is it really? the Monkey Slug Caterpillar or Hag moth as it is known, (Phobetron pithecium) has evolved to disguise itself as a predator, mimicking the form and color of a Tarantula Spider on it’s back. Nature photographer David Weiller captured this particular specimen while in the Amazon Rainforest of Puyo, Ecuador, the moth is also found in Amerrica, He shares:

This mesmerizing caterpillar mimics a hairy tarantula spider with its oddly long hairy arms curling out. When looking at the underside, it looks like a slug with its suction cups prolegs and its tiny legs. This caterpillar is the larvae of the hag moth.

Weiller shares incredible animal and insect discoveries from rainforests in Ecuador, Malaysia, Madagascar and elsewhere on his YouTube channel, if you are interested these are defiantly worth a look, the “Walking Soft Ice Cream Bug” or the Lichen Katydid, as an aside, as if looking like a tarantula spider is not enough, it also has stinging hairs on its body, fascinating.