Here is a weird moth larva

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A recent study published in Science reveals a unique species of carnivorous caterpillars from Hawaii that inhabit spider webs, feeding on trapped arthropods. This lineage, which has existed for over six million years, is notable for its unusual behavior of decorating its larval homes with the remains of its prey. The species is confined to a small area of 15 square kilometers on Oʻahu, indicating that other members of its lineage have likely vanished from older islands. The findings highlight the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect this rare species. The discussion also touches on the surprising nature of carnivorous caterpillars, contrasting them with the more commonly known herbivorous varieties.
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This is in Science:

Abstract​

Lepidoptera is the most herbivorous of all the insect orders, with predatory caterpillars globally comprising less than 0.13% of the nearly 200,000 moth and butterfly species. Here, we report a species in which caterpillars are carnivorous inhabitants of spider’s webs, feeding on the arthropods that they find there. This Hawaiian lineage also boasts an unprecedented and macabre practice of decorating its portable larval home with the body parts of the spider prey it harvests from the web where it resides. Phylogenomic data suggest that the origin of this unique spider cohabitant is at least six million years old, more than one million years older than Hawaii’s current high islands. After decades of searching, only one species has been discovered, and it is restricted to 15 square kilometers of a single mountain range on the island of Oʻahu, meaning that other members of the lineage have disappeared from older islands. Conservation action to save this globally unique lineage is imperative and overdue.

Screenshot 2025-04-24 at 4.04.40 PM.png
 
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All I have to say is... yuck.
 
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I was telling a friend about that yesterday after having read a blurb in an issue of Science. The abstract says that the species is "more than one million years older than Hawaii’s current high islands" and I was wondering where it had originally blown or floated in from.

The "bone" camouflage didn't disgust me but I was oddly disappointed to learn that there are carnivorous caterpillars. I don't why that bugged me (haha). I have a carnivorous plant and think it's cool.

Short video: https://www.science.org/doi/suppl/10.1126/science.ads4243/suppl_file/science.ads4243_movie_s1.zip
 
I thought I heard of a predatory inchworm also in Hawaii?
 

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