Coevolutionary race continues: butterfly larval adaptation to plant trichomes.
Plant trichomes can act as efjective defenses against herbivores, but at least one species of ithomiid butterfly, Mechanitis isthmia, has evolved a unique adaptation for avoiding the trichomes on its spiny Solanum hosts. The larvae are gregarious all together they spin a fine silk scaffolding over the tops of the spines on which they can crawl and feed in safety.
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