[Taxacom] Thinnest caterpillar?

[Geoff Read]

Passing on a local news story for a quiet day on Taxacom. Actually sub 1 
mm doesn't seem that unusual, at least to me (an annelid biologist), but 
the actual width is not stated. The species has a precarious outlook by 
the look of it.

  Rare skinny caterpillar named after Houdini

Wellington, Oct 19; NZ Press Association

Discovered in 2003 by Landcare Research scientist Corrine Watts, 
Houdinia flexilissima (aka Fred the Thread) lives inside the narrow 
stems of the endangered wetland plant, Sporadanthus ferrugineus

A rare, ultra-thin caterpillar which lives insides plant stems, and had 
escaped scientific discovery until 2003, has been named after the 
magician Harry Houdini.

Hamilton Landcare Research scientist Corrine Watts first discovered the 
skinny orange caterpillar in Waikato in 2003, and nicknamed it Fred the 
Thread.

After further investigation, Dr Watts and colleague Robert Hoare 
realised Fred was the caterpillar which turned into a type of moth which 
had been a mystery to scientists until then.

Fred is thinner than 1mm, and lives inside the narrow stems of the 
endangered rush-like plant Sporadanthus ferrugineus, which is found only 
in three North Island wetlands.

In full, the species' new name is Houdinia flexilissima.

The first part of the name is a nod to the incredible escape performed 
by the adult moth, after it has pupated inside the tight confines of its 
host plant.

Flexilissima means "pliable" or "very flexible".

Dr Hoare believed the newly discovered caterpillar might be the world's 
thinnest.

Two of the wetlands in Waikato where Fred lived were protected, while 
one, at Taihape, was being mined for peat, Dr Watts said.

Gamman Mining, which operates there, had been incredibly supportive of 
ecological work in the area, and had put significant amounts on money 
into restoring mined areas, she said.

However in future the land could be redeveloped into farmland.

Dr Watts said it would be a shame to lose the habitat of the highly 
evolved Houdinia moth, which had an incredibly specialised relationship 
with its host plant.

Citation:
The world’s thinnest caterpillar? A new genus and species of 
Batrachedridae (Lepidoptera) from Sporadanthus ferrugineus 
(Restionaceae), a threatened New Zealand plant.  Robert Hoare, John 
Dugdale, Corinne Watts.  Invertebrate Systematics 20(5) 571–583

-- 
   Geoff Read <g.read at niwa.co.nz>
    http://www.annelida.net/