Posted in Caterpillars Worms Facts

How Can Caterpillars Eat So Much?

Anyone who has read the famous children’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar knows that caterpillars have a reputation for eating a lot, and caterpillars have a reputation for eating a lot because they do eat a lot. But then this raises the following question asked by a reader the other day: “how do caterpillars eat so much food when they have tiny bellys?” Phrased slightly more technically, how can caterpillars, given their relatively small size and stomach, eat the enormous amount of food they do? Doesn’t the caterpillar’s body size limit how much food a caterpillar can eat? In order to address these questions, we will first consider how much caterpillars actually eat, and we will also explain how their body size relates to the amount they consume.