Caterpillar

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Caterpillars ( KAT-ər-pil-ər) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (comprising butterflies and moths). In common speech, any caterpillar-shaped insect larva such as of a sawfly is often called a caterpillar. Caterpillars of most species eat plant material (often leaves), but not all; some (about 1%) eat insects, and some are even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products. For example, clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates. Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. Many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to agricultural produce (particularly fruits), whereas as adults they cause no direct harm and would otherwise be hardly remarkable in that regard. Conversely, various species of caterpillar are valued as sources of silk, as human or animal food, or for biological control of pest plants.

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