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Stinging Slug CaterpillarsWhat on earth is this?
September 28, 2009
While moving, my friends found this on a cardboard box that had been sitting, undisturbed in a storage room for over a year. It reacted only slightly to being touched, but when a lighter was held a few inches away from, the pustule looking things started to swell and it lifted up a few of its legs (arms?). They’ve left it alone since, except for calling me to take some pictures. In a 24 hour period it’s moved about 4 inches across the top of the box, though rarely moves at all when we’ve been looking at it. We live in southcentral Oklahoma, and the weather has been very hot for months, so the closed off storage room it was in, was very warm, and moderately humid.
curious okie
south central Oklahoma
Monkey Slug
Dear curious okie,
This is a Monkey Slug, the caterpillar of the Hag Moth, Phobetron pithecium. It is one of the Stinging Slug Caterpillars in the family Limacodidae, and it should be handled with caution.
Related Posts
- Monkey Slug from Panama (January 31, 2008)
- Hag Moth Caterpillar or Monkey Slug (September 20, 2005)
- Monkey Slug Caterpillar (August 15, 2006)
- Monkey Slug Caterpillar (September 11, 2008)
- Monkey Slug Caterpillar (September 5, 2009)
Comments 1
I’m really curious to see what these things look like when they pupate. I can’t imagine a nice smooth round pupa when the larva has all of those weird tentacle-like protrusions. Can they move those “arms” by the way?
Posted 29 Sep 2009 at 2:07 pm ¶Post a Comment
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