Question

Giant Swallowtail caterpillars have a great secondary defence. This is:

Select one:
a. Sticking out a bright red osmetarium from their head (to look like a snake)
b. Rolling over and playing dead
c. Producing loud hissing sounds by blowing air out the spiracles
d. Looking like bird droppings
e. Twisting their head down to show two huge spots that make them look like a larger animal

Answer 1

The Giant Swallowtail caterpillar's secondary defense is extending a bright red osmetarium from their head to mimic a snake, deterring predators through aposematic coloration.

Step-by-step explanation:

Giant Swallowtail Caterpillars and Their Defenses

Giant Swallowtail caterpillars have a remarkable secondary defense mechanism. The correct answer to the student's question is a. Sticking out a bright red osmetarium from their head (to look like a snake). This adaptation is an example of aposematic coloration, which serves as a warning to potential predators about the caterpillar's undesirability as prey. Other creatures, like the monarch butterfly caterpillar and the fire-bellied toad, also utilize aposematic coloration, presenting bright colors to signal their toxic or distasteful nature to predators. This defense is effective only if the predator relies on vision for hunting and is capable of learning from experience to avoid these warning signals in the future. Mimicry is another defense where non-toxic species may share similar warning patterns with toxic species to deceive predators, as seen in some Heliconius butterfly species.