What are those things sticking out of the head and tail of Monarch caterpillars? Are they antennae?
The black filaments, sometimes called tentacles, protruding from behind the head and near the end of the abdomen of the larvae are not antennae, but may serve some tactile function such as alerting the larvae when they are close to an object. Also, it seems that the filaments respond to sound; try clapping your hands or playing some music with heavy bass, and the caterpillar’s filaments will “jerk” in response to the sound. Does this mean that caterpillars “hear” with these structures? Probably not, but it might be fun to do some experiments to determine how and why those caterpillars “dance” to the music. The caterpillars do have antennae that are located on the head, but they are very small and inconspicuous.
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