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Caterpillar kinematics

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  • John Brackenbury

    (Department of Anatomy)

Abstract

The design of a caterpillar's body forces it to walk slowly — but even though it cannot run away from danger, it can roll up quickly into a protective coil. Here, I show that the mother-of-pearl moth, Pleurotya ruralis, uses this reflex coiling as the basis for a method of high-speed escape. By anchoring the end of its body to the ground and recoiling against it, the larva converts itself into a backwardly rolling wheel. In doing this, it shows that the limitations of a soft, segmented body can be overcome, using the basic assemblage of segmental muscles, by temporarily sacrificing the need for stability.

Suggested Citation

  • John Brackenbury, 1997. "Caterpillar kinematics," Nature, Nature, vol. 390(6659), pages 453-453, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:390:y:1997:i:6659:d:10.1038_37253
    DOI: 10.1038/37253
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    Cited by:

    1. Xuesong Yang & Linfeng Lan & Ibrahim Tahir & Zainab Alhaddad & Qi Di & Liang Li & Baolei Tang & Panče Naumov & Hongyu Zhang, 2024. "Logarithmic and Archimedean organic crystalline spirals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.

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