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swallowtail caterpillarsour baby dragon
My girlfriend and I have been feeding this little fella for a couple days. He seems only to like the leaves from her equally beloved lemon tree, however, and not the ones from any of the other flora. I’m surprised he hasn’t been eaten by any of the many birds that sit in the flower bed where we have him housed here in Southern California. We are just so grateful to have a bug friend that isn’t a @#$@#%@# spider, that we’re quite attached. Would love to know what he is though. As you can see, he’s got a caterpillar kind of body and then almost a fake head. And if you bug him a little (heh), he sticks out what looks like a red forked tongue (also pictured). Thanks for your help. Definitely thought I was in the running for weirdest bug in the neighborhood ’till I browsed your site a little.
d
Hi D,
The common name for your caterpillar is the Orange Dog because of its diet, often leaves from orange trees. Obviously, it also eats other citrus. This is the caterpillar of the Giant Swallowtail. Probably birds don’t bother it since the caterpillar has the appearance of bird droppings. Those orange horns are actually scent glands that give off a foul odor, another bird deterrent.
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