This is gonna be a quick literal shitpost about something hilarious I learnt today π
Apparently, some species of caterpillars have the unique ability to shoot their shit over long distances.
One fascinating example is the silver-spotted skipper caterpillar (Epargyreus clarus) which has the ability to shoot its poop up to 1.4 fucking meters away from their anus. That's about 40 times their body length ππ
My first thought was that this was some form of defense mechanism against predators.
Something like a Kamehameha...but with poop.
The prevalent theory is that they do that to just keep the smelly frass (fancy word for poop) away. Which in turn tends to attract predators like wasps and parasites.
There is a whole 2003 paper examining the speed, distance and reasons behind this poop shooting behavior. It's a fun and interesting read. Just click here to download it.
Ok, I'll close now with some poop shooting videos, don't blink cause you will miss it lol
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