An Australian backyard was home to a bright blue caterpillar. Experts were baffled and compared it with an Alice in Wonderland character.
Tristan Glasson discovered the intruder in his Canberra garden soil and was puzzled at its size.
The photos were posted to a Facebook animal lover group, where they quickly attracted comparisons with Absalom, the blue hookah-smoking caterpillar.
Experts don’t know the species of this creature and think that blue might not be their natural colour.
A blue unknown caterpillar has been discovered in an Australian backyard. It is still not known and many people have difficulty identifying it.
Nathan Lo from the University of Sydney, professor of evolutionary biology, believed that this insect might be a larva of scarabbeetle.
He said that the insect was actually a completely different species, although he isn’t certain which one.
“It is either a moth- or butterfly-like caterpillar,” he explained.
For what appears to be a caterpillar, the insect’s length is remarkable. There are many species of caterpillars with different lengths, ranging from 1mm up to 14cm.
Although there are blue-colored caterpillars known, Professor Lo doesn’t believe this to be one.
He stated that he was unsure about the species, and whether or not it is Australian. However, he did say that it is blue due to an Iridovirus.
“The virus structure causes crystals inside insects that give the insect its blue colour. But I’ve never seen one that blue.’
The Iridovirus can affect the coloration of caterpillars and decrease their lifespan.
Commenters on the social media posts of the discovery compared it to The Blue Caterpillar (pictured).
Based on blue hornworms, the characters in Alice in Wonderland are based. They’re known to eat tobacco leaves.
Glasson claimed that Mr Glasson was puzzled by the discovery.
“It was a little weirder.” [to find it]He said, “It was more than I expected to be sincere.”
«[I was expecting to find a]Normal whitchetty grub. Not a huge angry one.