Meet the caterpillar whose favorite food explodes!
You know how sometimes you eat something and say to yourself “well, that didn’t agree with me”? Just be thankful you’re not the netted carpet moth caterpillar, whose diet consists exclusively of seed pods that explode when eaten. The caterpillar, once thought to be extinct — gee, can’t imagine why — survives in a small area by dining on the seed pods of the aptly-named touch-me-not balsam, which gives the moth-to-be an early taste of what it’ll be like to fly. (via Murray C.)
But what happens if you eat them and drink a soda?
Origin stories of plant names like this make me wonder how “horny goat weed” got its name. I saw it in a health food store once, in the supplements aisle, but was too embarrassed to ask.
Maybe I shouldn’t have googled that at work, but here we are…
https://www.swansonvitamins.com/blog/health-news-and-opinion/horny-goat-weedthe-story-behind-the-name
Well that’s a bit more literal than I expected, lol.
That’s what I was afraid of.
The dancing goat story is a lot more fun:
https://www.coffeecrossroads.com/coffee-history/origin-of-coffee-kaldi-and-dancing-goats
And I thought my sub-meesh-ee-ons were weird! Bravi, Murray C. and NTMTOM!
Funny thing is, I barely remembered submiterating it until the video actually started – I believe it was awhile back. It did make me laugh, though it does explain why the poor beasties are going extinct. I’ve had breakfast shot from cannons but I wasn’t IN the cannon.
I’ve had breakfast shot from cannons but I wasn’t IN the cannon.
Wait…what?
If my food was going to explode unexpectedly, maybe I would eat less… on second thought probably just faster!
I was thinking it might be a good weight loss strategy! “Eat all you want, before you explode.”
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
😆😆😆😆😆😆
Here in the US, aren’t those called impatiens plants? Used to love popping those as a kid.
Related but not exactly the same.
All I know about impatiens is that it’s called Busy Lizzie in the UK.
Robo hamsters like to spin running wheels to speeds where they get thrown off,for fun.
Maybe the caterpillars like to get hurled by the seeds for fun?No,not likely.But how they evolved to eat only plants that explode when munched is probably fascinatingly convoluted.
You never know. It could be like an amusement ride for them.
There’s lots of competition, but “gee, can’t imagine why” may have made me laugh as hard as anything NTMTOM has written. Thank goodness I didn’t have a mouthful of anything at the time. IT would have exploded.