why caterpillars eat their eggshells

[John Grehan]

 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.

I would also be interested to know of a 'reliable source' demonstrating the
caterpillars know why they are eating the shell in order to meet some
future goal that is to their long-term benefit. Same goes for the mammal.
Even if there was variation in the population with respect to these events
(i.e. some did and some didn't) and one could show a greater survival and
reproductive output for those that did, it is not a demonstration of why
these features exist in the first place (other than as a statement of faith),
and then if there are those that don't that also seem to survive, even
if in lower numbers, there is no automatic demonstration of the two different
modes having meet the requirments of survivial in a particular ecological
setting.

For the moment I have plenty of salt for the moth or buttefly.

John Grehan


 
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