Home on the Leaves
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Description
I found a Cyana moth pupa in its protective cocoon on a newly grown tender leaf. In the larval stage they bite off their toxic hair like setae and use their sticky saliva to build their own houses. They use their own poisonous fur as building material, which can resist attacks from parasitic wasps and ants. In the cocoon, the pupa forms some very thin (and difficult to see) silk, hanging themselves in the air as if they were lying in a hammock, ready to start its transformation into a moth.