![]() ![]() ![]() The adult moth has blunt wings covered with long, wavy hair and a wingspan of 1 to 1 1/2 inches. The mature larva is 1 to 1 1/2 inches long with seven pairs of prolegs (suction-cup like claspers, on the rear half of the body). Their color varies from yellow or gray to reddish-brown, or a mixture of colors. Southern flannel moth caterpillars are teardrop-shaped, and, with their long, silky hairs, resemble a tuft of cotton or fur. When a puss moth caterpillar rubs or is pressed against skin, venomous hairs stick into the skin causing a severe burning sensation and rash. They are of minor importance as enemies of shade trees, but they can cause a severe sting. This caterpillar is often abundant and may infest shade trees and shrubbery around homes, schools, and in parks. In Texas these caterpillars are commonly known as “asps”. The best known flannel moth and stinging caterpillar in Texas is the southern flannel moth, or puss moth caterpillar, Megalopyge opercularis. ![]() The spines, when brushed against the skin, produce a painful rash or sting. The immature stages of flannel moths are caterpillars which are clothed with fine hairs and venomous spines. Flannel moths get their name from the flannel-like appearance of the wings of the adult, which are clothed with loose scales mixed with long hairs. Most stinging caterpillars belong to the insect family known as flannel moths. And big laughs at the end, when the credits are interrupted by animated "outtakes" that satirize the blown lines and missed cues in live-action credit cookies.The southern flannel moth caterpillar hides a series of venomous spines under it soft hairs. And the Pixar animators, using later generations of the software that created such a fresh look in "Toy Story," have made a movie that is always a pleasure to look at: There are glistening, rounded surfaces, the sense of three dimensions, an eye for detail. "Antz" may even help business for "A Bug's Life" by demonstrating how many dramatic and comedic possibilities can be found in an anthill. Will "A Bug's Life" suffer by coming out so soon after "Antz"? Not any more than one thriller hurts the chances for the next one. There are sneaky throwaway lines (when Flik visits a city, he encounters a beggar who explains, "A kid pulled my wings off"). A circus trick involves matches and flypaper. A rainstorm feels like the colony is being water-bombed. Flea's Circus? The animators, led by director John Lasseter, provide rich images. How is he to know they aren't really warrior insects, but simply discontented performers from P. He finds nine, including a walking stick named Slim ( David Hyde Pierce), a praying mantis (Jonathan Harris), a caterpillar that looks military and sounds like a Nazi ( Joe Ranft), a black widow ( Bonnie Hunt) and others. Soil ( Roddy McDowall), and resolves to fight back.įlik uses a dandelion pod as a sort of aircraft and flies off on a hopeful quest to find mercenaries he can hire to defend the colony. What to do? Flik feels terrible because his clumsiness caused the trouble he apologizes to the Queen ( Phyllis Diller), is encouraged by Princess Atta ( Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Mr. Hopper has the kind of personality that makes him talk with his hands, and since he has four, Flik gets the message: Rebuild the Offering or face unspeakable consequences. Flik spills the Offering, and Hopper ( Kevin Spacey), the leader of the grasshoppers, is not pleased. But he's still basically just an ant the film is more about the fate of the colony and not so much about individuals like the Woody Allen hero of "Antz." There is a crisis. ![]() As the other ants labor to pile up "The Offering," a mountain of food for tyrannical grasshoppers, Flik perfects an invention to harvest grain more quickly he's the Cyrus McCormick of the hymenopterous Formicidae. The film's hero is Flik (voiced by Dave Foley), the smartest ant in the colony (the competition is not fierce). The story, about an ant colony that frees itself from slavery to grasshoppers, is similar in some ways to the autumn's other big animated release, " Antz," but it's aimed at a broader audience and lacks the in-jokes. But the Pixar computer animation studio, a Disney co-producer, broke new ground with " Toy Story" in 1995, and now with "A Bug's Life," it runs free. It's a formula that has produced wonderful movies. ![]()
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