Caterpillar facts
Faecal Firing
Some leaf-rolling caterpillars fire faecal pellets from their anuses.
"A structure called the anal
plate is loaded
with a faecal pellet, and then retracted into the pre-firing position and held
in place by a cuticular catch. The blood pressure in the anal compartment is then raised by
contracting nearby
muscles. When the pressure reaches a sufficient level, the catch gives way and
the anal plate
flicks the pellet of sh.. out at a velocity of over 1 m.s-1.!"
http://www.ris.net/~lawnman/hopfact.html
The caterpillar of the polyphemus moth, Antheraea
polyphemus, can eat 86,000 times its weight at birth in little less than two
months.