why caterpillars eat their eggshells

[Martha Rosett Lutz]

This may be apocryphal, but I have heard that at least some species of lep
larvae eat their eggshells to remove the 'evidence' and prevent parasitoids
or predators from locating newly hatched larvae.  Not unlike some wild
mammals that eat the placentas and other debris from the birth process,
supposedly to remove things that might otherwise give predators a clue that
a young and vulnerable individual of the prey species was nearby.

Has anyone else heard these ideas from a reliable source?  This sort of
falls under the heading of urban/grad student legend, so unless someone
else can validate it, take it with a mighty big block of salt.

In Stride,
Martha Rosett Lutz



 
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