Imagine you're a bird rooting around for food on the floor of the rainforest, when suddenly you come face to face with one of these beady pairs of eyes. If it were a snake, you'd be dinner.
In these circumstances, most birds fly off in flight which is rather fortunate for the true owner of the eyes - the rear ends of various kinds of rainforest caterpillars.
This isn't unique to the caterpillars either - many animals have false eye spots, either to frighten away predators or to distract attention from their true eyes, which are usually a vulnerable point.
In these circumstances, most birds fly off in flight which is rather fortunate for the true owner of the eyes - the rear ends of various kinds of rainforest caterpillars.
This isn't unique to the caterpillars either - many animals have false eye spots, either to frighten away predators or to distract attention from their true eyes, which are usually a vulnerable point.