September 8 – Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies
Have you considered the tiger swallowtail butterfly? In order not to be eaten, it has three disguises it uses through its various stages to adulthood.
- The newly hatched larva looks like bird droppings. What bird would want to eat bird poop?! Three molts later, the caterpillar has turned green to match the leaves upon which it feeds.
- In addition, the head of the caterpillar’s green plump body has two large spots that resemble snake eyes. Birds that eat caterpillars hate snakes!
- Finally, in its pupa stage, the tiger swallowtail looks like a broken twig on a tree.
These three disguises reflect a great deal of knowledge about the behavior of the creature that wants to eat this butterfly.
- How did the larva grow itself to look like bird droppings? Did he look at droppings, know that birds don’t eat droppings, and decide to transform his body to look like that?
- At its third molt, how did it know to put the eyes of a snake on its green body? How did it know that birds are afraid of snakes? Had the caterpillar seen a snake?
- During its pupa stage, how did it figure out how to color itself with the color and shape of a broken twig?
Evolutionists believe that because these things give the tiger swallowtail a survival advantage, they all just happened over huge time periods by accident and chance. Does this really make sense? The tiger swallowtail is a master of disguises, but he was provided that by our loving Creator.
Psalm 41:2a
KJV: The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive…