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Other large green caterpillars also have picked up on the white-bordered-with-lavender/purple pattern. Here, a Rothschildia lebeau 5th instar caterpillar (below) may be compared with a 5th instar Manduca rustica caterpillar from the same habitat. Additionally, the M. rustica caterpillar has been feeding on plants rich in alkaloids, and eating it may be like eating a cigarette wrapped in a thin sheet of muscle and fat. The M. rustica caterpillar may well be a Mullerian mimic of the Periphoba arcaei caterpillar, with the Rothschildia lebeau caterpillar as a Batesian satellite.
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