Dangerous Beauties!

 Hinlalayon! This is the local term we call this creature. "Hinlalayon" is a collective term we use for larvae with dangerous spines, and also dangerous to animals that accidentally ingest them while grazing. I've seen this dangerous beauty only for the first time. I learned that this is also included in the group called slug caterpillars, because they move so slowly and the body looks like a slug.

Old folks in our area say that animals like goats die because their mouths and throats get burned upon eating grasses or feeds with live larvae like this. We were able to get this because my sister had burned patches on her arm for accidentally brushing on this creature while getting citrus fruits. She did not stop searching for it on the leaves planning to kill it, but i intervened and instead brought it home to observe. I put it also on small citrus branches with leaves, but it kept on walking looking for something and didn't eat at all for half a day. Getting younger leaves didn't entice it to eat or even nibble. My sister said it is already thin and will soon die. My  mother said i should not allow it to live because it will later produce eggs which will produce more danger! So after getting a lot of photos, I brought it back to the citrus tree, not showing anybody which part of the tree i put it. Actually, i returned it to the fruitless tree, so it wont harm anyone again.

I visited it a few times later, and also the following day, but it did not go far from where i left it. The difference is that it already stopped walking on the live tree. I wonder if it sensed that the branch at home is a dying branch, so it kept on walking to search for a real live branch.

Look at those black minute spines, these makes it very dangerous when touched or ingested. Some species have these spines connected to toxic glands which makes the sting fatal. For this species, the spines can cause dermatitis. Even looking at them make you feel itchy!

on the citrus leaf

I posted it on the FB page for moths and butterfly group here, asked for the ID and someone led me to the Family Limacodidae, Genus Setora. The species is difficult to identify unless an adult that surely emerged from it can be observed. A comparison from the book "moths of Borneo" saying it is from the Philippines,  shows its resemblance to Susica malayana. However, it is safer not to point the species at the moment. So those IDs are temporary at the moment.