The bone collector is part of the Hyposmocoma genus, which is native to Hawaii and includes over 350 described species, many of which are found in a single valley or volcano within a Hawaiian island.

The caterpillar, which grows to about half an inch in its larval form before becoming a moth, has yet to be designated a Latin name. For now, its common name, “bone collector,” will do.

Name: Bone collector caterpillar Where it lives: In cobwebs on a single mountain range on Oahu, Hawaii What it eats: Flies, weevils, bark beetles, ants or any arthropod caught in a spider's web ...

The bone collector’s origins date back at least six million years, making the caterpillar more ancient than the Hawaiian islands themselves. Today, they dwell on an isolated patch of mountain ...

Wildlife Newly discovered ‘bone collector’ caterpillar eats its prey and then wears its body parts like armor By Associated Press Published April 26, 2025, 2:39 p.m. ET ...

The researchers said the "bone collector" inhabits a patch of mountain forest spanning just 5.8 square miles (15 square km) in the Waianae mountain range. Rubinoff said this caterpillar has a very ...

Home Science speed read Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects ...

KEY TAKEAWAYS Scientists discovered a carnivorous caterpillar in Oahu, nicknamed the "bone collector." It camouflages with dead insect parts in spider webs to avoid predators.

Six specimens of a newly identified carnivorous caterpillar species nicknamed the ?bone collector?, which camouflages itself by wearing body parts of its prey, are seen in this handout image ...

NEW YORK (AP) — A new carnivorous caterpillar that wears the remains of its prey has been dubbed the “bone collector.” The odd insect is only found on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.