The caterpillars of each different species has different characteristic patterns, especially Lasiocampidae, see http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/lasi/lasi-cats.html but as you can see: we only know what the caterpillars of 21 out of Australia's 76 Lasiocampidae species look like. I wish more people would rear caterpillars that they find so that we can learn to identify the other 55, instead of leaving them to be killed by predators, parasites, and disease in the wild (only about 1% of caterpillars survive to become adults in the wild). This is the first I have seen with blue hairs. I would love to know which species it is.
Well we certainly have the predators and the parasites (wasps usually as far as I can tell). Dunno about the diseases. I must admit that I am surprised sometimes at how many invertebrates are out there. Particularly small spiders when you consider how many get taken by wasps. A lot of the spiders here I only see in mud wasp nests. I get the shock of my life when one turns up live. I think the problem with moths is that for some reason they have no kudos. People have collected butterflies forever. No-one collects moths and they are way more attractive and interesting.
The attitude to moths is different in the United Kingdom. Very many citizen scientists are interested and many volunteers trap, count, rear, photograph and identify moths. However, as you would expect, the diversity of moths is much higher here in Australia compared to the UK.
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