Cattle

General Info:

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. Cattle are raised as livestock for meat (beef and veal), as dairy animals for milk and other dairy products, and as draft animals (oxen or bullocks) (pulling carts, plows and the like). Other products include leather and dung for manure or fuel. In some countries, such as India, cattle are sacred.

Physique:

Adult weights of cattle always depend on the breed. Smaller kinds, such as Dexter and Jersey adults, range between 272 to 454 kg (600 to 1,000 lb). Large Continental breeds, such as Charolais, Marchigiana, Belgian Blue and Chianina, adults range up to 635 to 1,134 kg (1,400 to 2,500 lb). British-breeds, such as Hereford, Angus, and Shorthorn, mature between 454 to 907 kg (1,000 to 2,000 lb), occasionally higher, particularly with Angus and Hereford.

Bulls will always be a bit larger than cows by a few extra hundred pounds. Chianina bulls can weigh up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb); British bulls, such as Angus and Hereford, can weigh as little as 907 kg (2,000 lb) to as much as 1,361 kg (3,000 lb).

It is difficult to generalize or average out the weight of all cattle because different kinds have different averages of weights. However, according to some sources, the average weight of all cattle is 753 kg (1,660 lb). Finishing steers in the feedlot average about 640 kg (1,400 lb); cows about 725 kg (1,600 lb), and bulls about 1,090 kg (2,400 lb).

Diet:

Green Grass, Leaves are included in the diet of a cattle.

Distribution:

An estimated 1.3 billion cattle are in the world today. In 2009, cattle became the first livestock animal to have a fully mapped genome.

Caterpillars

General Info:

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture. Many moth species are better known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce.

Physique:

Many caterpillars are cryptically colored and resemble the plants on which they feed. They may even have parts that mimic plant parts such as thorns. Their size varies from as little as 1 mm to about 75 millimetres (3.0 in). Some look like objects in the environment such as bird droppings.

Diet:

They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars have been called "eating machines", and eat leaves voraciously.

Distribution:

Caterpillars are found all over the world and in all types of environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sea level and high in the mountains. Most caterpillars species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforests.