Check it out - I found one of THESE in my garden today!

[Matsubara]

This is a hornworm, the larvae of a sphinx moth or hawk moth. Took some research to figure out what it was, but I was pretty impressed.


It's about 5 in. long and was munching on my calla lilies.

Now how the heck does a moth larvae get the idea along the evolutionary timeline, to make itself look uncannily like a snake?

If this isn't a good argument for "an intelligent design" to the universe, I don't know what is.

(Not saying it should be taught as such in science class or anything, but things like this really do make me wonder...)

[Scooter24]

1. Yep...

just one look at that and I would have ran the other way screaming. I'm such a wuss. :rofl:

[Matsubara]

2. Really? I tried to pick it up, but it was latched on to a plant, pretty strong...

...so I picked the leaf it was on and carried it over to the woods. I didn't have the heart to kill it, but I don't want it munching on my garden. It had already eaten half of a big calla leaf.

[Scooter24]

3. I'm not big on the creatures...I'm very urban

lol... Maybe the pics make it look scarier, but those eyes and that face from the second pic sure makes it look itimidating.

[Matsubara]

5. That's the idea. Those aren't really eyes, but markings that make it look like a snake.

The actual eyes are so tiny you can hardly see them, on the tip of what looks like the "snake's" nose.

[Heidi]

4. It doesn't make me wonder about intelligent design

but I _am_ amazed at the defenses life forms can develop or evolve over time for their survival. :hi:

Very cool discovery, Matsubara! :hi:

[Matsubara]

6. The reason it makes me wonder...

...is this. How is it that the worm knows its markings are starting to resemble a snake, and how does it refine them to a point of being that convincing?

I do believe there is a plan to the universe, and that there was some sort of intelligence that made the matrix of life develop in the amazing ways it does.

But I have no idea if it's a "god", or just an innate intelligence to all things, or what, but I do believe it's more than just random mutations that enhance survival chances for some creatures, especially in critters like this one.

[Heidi]

7. Oh, I don't think it's random at all.

I'm not enough of a scientist to explain how I think this happens, but it may go something like this: worms that have a more predatory appearance are more likely to survive, breed and pass those same markings along to their offspring and, over time, the species survives due to that natural natural ability to adapt. :shrug:

The reason I believe this is because there's a huge body of evidence to demonstrate that human beings weren't always smooth-skinned, upright-walking creatures; as our need to protect ourselves against weather, etc., we're less hirsute, etc. That's just a guess on my part, but it makes sense to me. We adapt to our environment in order to survive. I don't personally believe the hand of God is guiding these changes, but I also feel no need to ascertain that. It's enough for me that we survive. :hi:

[Breeze54]

8. Impressive!!

And also impressive that you spotted it!! :P

But I guess 5" is pretty big, eye catching.

Isn't Mother Nature amazing??

Glad to hear you just relocated it! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Matsubara]

9. I don't know why, but anything bigger than a wasp, I have trouble killing.

When I lived in San Francisco, we had tons of slugs. I used to pick them up on a little shovel and fling them into the next yard. (they just had a weed patch).

One thing I never hesitate to kill is CENTIPEDES. I FUCKING HAAATTE CENTIPEDES!!!! THEY MUST ALL DIE.

[Guava Jelly]

10. That is cool

Thanks for sharing it.
I have to disagree on the intelligent design thingie though.
Because to believe in that I would have to believe in a mystical magical creator.
And I just can't buy into that.
No magic nobody pulling the strings it is all nature.

[Matsubara]

11. Maybe "nature" (or the universe itself) is the creator.

The fact that there is an intelligence there doesn't mean there is necessarily a deity.


Whatever it is, if it exists, it's beyond our understanding.


Just thinking about the fact that you could travel a billion miles an hour through space in any direction, for a billion years, but even then, there would still be an infinite amount of space ahead of you, behind you above and below. That time itself has no beginning and no end. Just blows my mind. Sorry if that sounds like stoner talk. LOL.