I found this beautiful caterpillar on mango tree in my backyard, this is common baron butterfly caterpillar, when the caterpillar settles down on a mango leaf it’s difficult to find and it’s almost blends perfectly with the colour of the leaf, the yellow spine aligns with the leaf’s midrib and body is covered in a mesh of green, making it fade away from the vision of any predator that might be passing by.
Caterpillars are at the bottom of the food chain, and they know it. In their quest to become butterflies, they focus only on two things. The first is to eat. The second is to avoid being eaten. Caterpillars have evolved a fascinating variety of defences to keep themselves safe from predators.