It is not difficult to spot caterpillars feeding on the same plant as many species of them are known to live in colonies. However, seeing dozens of caterpillars resting on a tree trunk in the bright daylight is quite new to me.
I observed them for over 2 weeks and found that they came back to the same tree trunk and almost the same spot day after day.
Sometimes they even laid on top of each other.
In fact these caterpillars are the larvae of the Metanastria gemella (moth). Apparently, they feed at night and spend daytime resting on the tree trunk.
The teamwork leads to “safety in numbers” which provides a better chance of survival against predators.
To me, they created very pretty artistic patterns.
More images at Google+
