German researchers have made a remarkable discovery. They discovered a previously unknown species of caterpillar in amber caught in the Baltic Sea. The worm is about 44 million years old, and its size does not exceed half a centimeter.
Found in the Baltic Sea, the larva of the butterfly species Eogeometer vadens is a unique find. The scientific journal Scientific Reports published a separate study on the find. Its lead author, Axel Hausmann, emphasizes that this is the first recorded case of a caterpillar of a large butterfly species in the larval stage of this age.
The larva was found by the Munich researchers in a flat piece of amber measuring 30×20 mm and 4 mm high. The amber comes from the Baltic Sea, where the largest known deposits are located. The caterpillar itself is 5 mm long.
The larva belongs to a species of butterfly known as the Mierniidae. It is one of the three largest families of butterflies. which has about 23,000 species. Their caterpillars differ in appearance from caterpillars of other species – they have two to three pairs of legs instead of five.
The diameter of the head of the newly discovered caterpillar is about 1.5 times the diameter of its abdomen. Scientists note that it also has well-developed legs, although one leg is missing.
Axel Hausmann told US Newsweek in an interview that it is very rare to find caterpillars in amber, which may be due to their nocturnal lifestyle – the resin from which amber is made seeps through during the day.
How can you be sure that this larva is about 44 million years old? Because that’s about the age of the Baltic amber deposit.
