Dr. Marc E. Epstein Senior Insect Biosystematist, Plant Pest Diagnostics Center, CA Dept. of Food and Agriculture Research Associate, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
It’s time to take a fresh look at some of nature’s most charismatic caterpillars, commonly known as slug caterpillars. Using results from the first comprehensive phylogeny of the Limacodidae (inferred from 7 genes and morphological characters), we will see how various larval phenotypes -- the “nettles", the “gelatines”, the “hairys" and their odd...