For people in north Queensland, a bright green caterpillar’s sting ‘feels like the seven rings of hell’. But scientists in Brisbane hope its toxin can be used to heal, not harm
The devil arrived at Andrew Walker’s laboratory in a cardboard box. Its fluorescent green body, covered in a thicket of menacing spikes, was adorned at both ends with a pair of black horns.
For residents of north-east Queensland, this devil – scientific name Comana monomorpha – is known as the electric caterpillar. Its sting, typically received while tending to lilly-pillies in the garden, is exceptionally painful.
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