
A most bizarre and mysterious cocoon  - wglb
http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/a-most-bizarre-and-mysterious-cocoon/
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cs702
Nature never ceases to amaze me. If you want to see some of the weirdest, most
fantastically odd things Evolution has produced (for example, dancing spiders
with multi-colored 'capes' that pop up), I highly recommend this blog:
[http://wtfevolution.tumblr.com](http://wtfevolution.tumblr.com)

~~~
solistice
Oh my god, he's Campbell-locking.

After all, he's got the quick movements with the stops in between, and he
wears some pretty colorful locking outfit. Since I can't find any evidence for
Campbell inheriting this behavior from the spider or the other way round, I
say it co-evolved.

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fchollet
A quick search turns up Bucculatricidae as a good candidate.

Example cocoon:
[http://bugguide.net/images/raw/Y0BQZSBQF0AQJ08KLSBQTK5KCK4K9...](http://bugguide.net/images/raw/Y0BQZSBQF0AQJ08KLSBQTK5KCK4K9KKKOKUQLSUQZSGKY0VQAK5KWK4QPK6Q6KKKA0UQA0ZK9KKKWK.jpg)

~~~
yesbabyyes
I thought the same, but they already discussed that in the comments [1] as the
first serious contender, only to ultimately dismiss it as something else
entirely.

[1] [http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/a-most-
bi...](http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/a-most-bizarre-and-
mysterious-cocoon/#comment-503279)

~~~
chime
They came to the same conclusion in the original thread last week -
[http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1lcb09/possible_new_sp...](http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1lcb09/possible_new_species_rbiology_and_whatsthisbug/cbxzp62?context=2)

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arrogant
Another interesting cocoon, linked to from the comments:
[http://blog.perunature.com/2013/06/the-incredible-urodid-
mot...](http://blog.perunature.com/2013/06/the-incredible-urodid-moth-
cocoon.html)

Instead of hiding, the caterpillar builds an open-air net-like structure which
hangs by a thread from the bottom of a leaf. The video hypothesizes that the
structure both protects the pupa from ants and allows rain to flow through it
(both of which seem like critical features in the Amazonian rainforest).

Also, it looks really cool.

~~~
icambron
Alternative, admittedly uninformed hypothesis: the structure makes it lighter,
which means the chord suspending it can be thinner, which makes it harder for
ants to crawl down it.

~~~
dfischer
More-so, it's lighter AND allows air to pass through it so it's more stable.

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DanBC
Any search engine experts here? How do people try to find the answer to this
question if they know nothing about the subject?

My approach is to bang in various words and do image searches, forcing some
and not others, and then try similar words. [weird cocoon] or [weird egg sac
peru] and then sometimes including a subject word. (Entomology).

Then I do a TinEye search, or a GoogleImage search to see if I can find other
pages talkng about it.

This feels sub-optimal.

What's a better approach?

~~~
pessimizer
I'm not sure if you have much of a chance of finding the answer if you know
nothing about the subject - unless someone else already blogged about it
somewhere. I'm sure that many of the people that are confused about it in the
comments actually do have a background in biology, and they're having a tough
time.

~~~
lutusp
There's another possibility. Because of where this was discovered, it's more
than possible that it's a new species. There are plenty of undiscovered
species in the tropics, especially in the _insecta_ class.

~~~
pessimizer
Absolutely. It's not a "the first person who can tell me what this is a
picture of gets a prize" thing, it's an "I'm a biologist and I'm genuinely
confused about what this is, please help" thing.

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ambiate
Looks like some form of
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyridae](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyridae)

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ratsimihah
I believe it's a drunk hipster spider feeling all artsy.

[http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&sa=N&hl=en&authuser=0&biw=...](http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&sa=N&hl=en&authuser=0&biw=1356&bih=651&tbm=isch&tbnid=nxb8pxTaOa1PxM:&imgrefurl=http://images.wildammo.com/2011/06/29/hipster-
spider-web-
developers/&docid=SuoOKfYVScb6EM&imgurl=http://images.wildammo.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/hipster-spider-web-
developers.png&w=420&h=280&ei=Sz8mUpm-
NcjTsATp5YCICw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:1,s:0,i:84&iact=rc&page=1&tbnh=183&tbnw=275&start=0&ndsp=23&tx=161&ty=86)

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soperj
It looks remarkably like the top of a water droplet hitting a pool of water in
slow motion.

~~~
dredmorbius
My first thought was "Edgerton milk drop".

[http://www.agallery.com/Pages/photographers/edgerton.html](http://www.agallery.com/Pages/photographers/edgerton.html)

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arjn
it looks like a little hut/house surrounded by a tall fence. What a fantastic
thing!

~~~
ChuckMcM
I'm guessing that it evolved the fence to prevent crawling predators from
feasting on the cocoon while the bug is pupating. That said, its a really
interesting example.

The next time the guy is out in the jungle and sees one the thing to do is to
take it home, put it in a jar, and wait to see what pops out. I learned about
mosquito eggs that way, as a youth I thought they were tadpole eggs, put them
in my jar and waited for frogs. Instead I got mosquito larvae and then a jar
of dead mosquitos (I didn't take the top off once I recognized the larval
form.)

~~~
arjn
Or maybe set up a camera to take pictures every couple of minutes. Sometimes
removing these things from their environment may prevent them from hatching.

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jostmey
Incredible. I looks the organism erected a fence to protect whatever it is in
the center. If this turns out not to be a hoax it will be truly amazing. It is
part of the " _Endless Forms_ " of life.

~~~
mhurron
[http://bugguide.net/node/view/754227/bgimage](http://bugguide.net/node/view/754227/bgimage)

It might not be the only bug that believes fences make good neighbors.

FYI: I found out about that from [http://io9.com/we-have-absolutely-no-clue-
what-built-this-cr...](http://io9.com/we-have-absolutely-no-clue-what-built-
this-crazy-comple-1243871592)

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swamp40
Tell the truth. What would you say if the "fence" was electrified?

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pertinhower
Evolution be praised.

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slipperyp
A few months ago a friend told me he felt hn had jumped the shark. This
frontpage discussion about a blog post about a reddit thread pretty much
settles any debate there was to be had on that topic!

~~~
phoyce
"I'll miss the sea, but a person needs new experiences. They jar something
deep inside, allowing him to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us,
and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken."

