Caterpillar ID
Location: Ocala National Forest
March 22, 2011 11:07 pm
I cannot find another image of this caterpillar anywhere. Can you help identify it?
Signature: Buteo
Echo Moth Caterpillar
Dear Buteo,
Without a doubt, this is the caterpillar of an Echo Moth, one of the Tiger Moths. BugGuide only reports it from Florida, though it may also be found in other Southern states. BugGuide also indicates that it feeds upon “Coontie, cabbage palmetto, crotons, lupie, oaks, persimmon and other woody plants”.
Larva? Chrysalis?
Location: Pensacola, FL (FL Panhandle)
March 22, 2011 10:19 pm
Hi! I’ve used this website numerous times to help identify strange insects discovered here in the Florida Panhandle. I came across this one (pictured) while pulling weeds along the side of the house. It was about 11 am, and I don’t know if it was underground and I uncovered it while pulling weeds, or if it was above ground and I just happened to notice it. This was discovered on March 20th, and I am located in Pensacola, FL. The ground it was discovered in is almost continuously shaded and moist. The part resembling a point or ”stinger” moved back and forth seemingly as in a self-defense posture. At first I thought it was a cacoon or chrysallis of some sorth, but the segmented portion caused me to rethink that. Total length is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches. Thanks for your help!
Signature: Bart Macmanus
Tersa Sphinx Pupa
Hi Bart,
We cannot ever recall responding to you in the past, so the numerous times you have used our website in the past must have been unassisted usages, meaning you were able to self identify. This is the Pupa of a Tersa Sphinx Moth. You can see images of the entire life cycle of the Tersa Sphinx on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. We suspect this Tersa Sphinx Pupa was buried just beneath the surface and you unearthed it while weeding. The adult moths are quite aerodynamic. The segmented abdomen is the only part of most butterfly and moth pupae that is capable of moving.
You are correct! I have used this website numerous times for self-identification of certain insects, but this is my first submission. In fact, about 30 minutes after I submitted my query, I was STILL searching and finally came across one just like this and knew right away what it was. The link you posted on that submission led me to a few pictures of the Sphinx Moth, which I gladly showed my wife. It is now sitting in the kitchen in a container awaiting the emergence of the grown adult. I appreciate all the work that goes into your website, and especially the quick turnaround on my question. Incidently, the last time I used your website, it was to identify one of the various Eyed Elater species. Thanks again!
Thanks for the update Bart. If you are going to try to witness the metamorphosis, make sure the pupa can breath. A large mouth bottle with some damp (not too wet but also not bone dry) potting soil in the bottom and a cheese cloth or netting cover should work fine. Keep the pupa at approximately the same temperature as the air outside to ensure there is not a premature metamorphosis.
Unknown Tiny Grasshopper
Great Smoky Mountains, TN
First Full Day of Spring
Hi Daniel,
I went for a walk in the woods earlier today, and found this tiny grasshopper sunning itself on an Oak leaf, and then it was gone. I have been unable to identify it, so far. Can you help?
Of course, I’ve been wrong so many times before…Cricket? ;-D
I didn’t crop the photo so that you could see just how tiny it is.
Thanx for being there,
R.G. Marion
Orthopteran Nymph
Hi R.G.,
We are too late to try to research this at the moment. The antennae seem too long for a grasshopper nymph, so we suspect it is in the suborder Ensifera, the Long-Horned Orthoptera.
More Catapillars
Location: Houston, Texas
March 21, 2011 9:59 pm
These pictures were taken October 23 2010. The catapillar I’m most curious about is the tan one in all three pictures. Me and my sister thought it was super cute. The other catapillar in the third image is less cute and really familiar looking, I think because I’ve seen that type of catapillar a lot growing up. What kind of catapillar is that little tan one? If it’s easy to identify, what is that yellow striped one?
Signature: Thanks a lot, Kelly Bufkin
Asp
Hi Kelly,
Your tan caterpillar is a Puss Caterpillar or Asp, the larva of the Southern Flannel Moth, Megalopyge opercularis. Handle the Asp with care as it is a stinging caterpillar. The yellow striped caterpillar appears to be one of the Prominent Caterpillars, possibly Datana contracta based on images posted to BugGuide.
Prominent Caterpillar meets Asp
Big Brown Moth
Location: Houston, Texas
March 21, 2011 9:41 pm
I found this very large moth on the outside of the house in the afternoon, September 11 2009. I thought it was a weirdly stuck leaf but, on closer inspection, it turned out to be a cool moth. It seemed really docile and allowed me to pick it up and mess with it without reacting very much. I brought it inside with me and set it on a plant inside. It started acting up right then, sprayed a white fluid out of it’s rear end and started flying around. I had gotten some of the white fluid on me so it washed it off while the giant insect tried to escape. I eventually got it out of the house but not after chasing it all over and losing track of it a few times.
I found this website recently and I wondered if you could tell me what sort of moth it was and what it sprayed at me.
Signature: Thanks, Kelly Bufkin
Walnut Sphinx
Hi Kelly,
Your moth is a Walnut Sphinx, Amorpha juglandis, and you can verify that by looking at the images on the Sphingidae of the Americas website. Bill Oehlke writes: “The adults are also highly variable; sometimes wings of an individual may be all one color or may have several colors, ranging from pale to dark brown, and may have a white or pink tinge. Patterns range from faint to pronounced.” We have never heard of a Sphinx Moth spraying, and we suspect the fluid it exuded may have been a residual product of metamorphosis.
Walnut Sphinx
I looked through the moths people had sent in before and I saw a lot of other kinds of sphinxes. They did look like my moth but not quite, haha. For it to spray at me I must have scared it or something. Thank you for identifying it!
Cricket?
Location: Big Bend National Park, the Dagger Flats
March 21, 2011 1:30 am
I was just on a field trip with my geology class in Big Bend National Park over spring break. While I was taking my field final this little guy hopped past me. At first I thought he was some sort of reptile but I looked closer and he has 6 legs. He was also a bit dusty. I’m just curious about what he is.
Signature: Abby B
Robust Toad Lubber
Hi Abby,
This grasshopper is a Robust Toad Lubber, Phrynotettix robustus, which we identified on BugGuide. They are described as: “Stocky broad-bodied grasshoppers, very ‘pebble-like’, with very short wings (much shorter in females) behind the large shield-like pronotum. Color is usually pale whitish, tan, or grayish, often with scattered darker spots or mottling.” Greg Lasley’s website provides this information: “The Robust Toad Lubber (Phrynotettix robustus) is a species of grasshopper in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico. It is sometimes simply called Toad Lubber, and inhabits canyon floors and other regions in desert habitats.”
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