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Largest Caterpillar I have ever seen!
Good day!
I have looked through your 3 pages of caterpillars, w/o success. Found this enormous caterpillar (well, I guess it is a caterpillar) in Midlothian, Virginia (near Richmond, Virginia). It was at least 5 inches long and very thick and hairy. We camp and hike a lot and have never seen a caterpillar this size before. We didn’t keep it because we were afraid we would accidentally kill it, and of course it’s gone now. Just very curious. Have attached photos. I love your website! What beautiful critters you have there.
Thanks,
Sami

Hi Sami,
It is understandable that you couldn’t identify your caterpillar even though we have several on the site. This is an Imperial Moth Caterpillar. They are usually green, sometimes blue green, occasionally yellowish orange, sometimes light brown, and then there is your example, dark brown, which is a color we have never seen. The black horns are particularly noteworthy.

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