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Small things bright and beautiful
I'm not really into insects, but I found this image at ettf, and was so stunned by the colors that I had to look it up. Apparently, the pic is of a caterpillar cecropia moth. More specifically, this is a cecropia caterpillar in its second stage of shedding. According to wikipedia, the cecropia molts 5 times and is only this beautiful in the second stage of molting--when its drizzled with vivid blue, orange and yellow sprinkles. When it grows older, the caterpillar dulls some, and then emerges into a pretty moth (one of the largest giant silk moths found in North America), but it's nowhere near as cute as its previous incarnation. Click here to read more on it at wikipedia. Photo via ettf.