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Mourning Cloak Caterpillar called “horrific”

What is this???
Location: CA
July 26, 2011 5:37 pm
Curious as to identifying this horrific bug I took pictures of…
Signature: AP

mourning cloak cat ap 300x206 Mourning Cloak Caterpillar called horrific

Mourning Cloak Caterpillar

Dear AP,
We can think of numerous things in the world that might be called “horrific” but the Mourning Cloak Caterpillar is not one of them.  We cannot imagine what incited you to use such strong language.  Mourning Cloaks are lovely dark purple butterflies with cream colored wing edges and tiny blue spots, and their populations seem to be high this year.  Perhaps it is related to the heavy rains in California this past season.

Posted 27 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Charaxes Caterpillar from the Congo

Blue-horned dragon caterpillar
Location: Bas-Congo, DR Congo
July 26, 2011 1:31 am
Dear Mr. Bugman,
My 9 yo daughter and I are interested in knowing more about a cool caterpillar we encountered in the Kisantu Botanical Gardens here in Congo about 120 km west of Kinshasa. We appreciate any help you can give us.
Katy and her dad.

charaxes cat africa katy 2 300x195 Charaxes Caterpillar from the Congo

Charaxes Caterpillar

Hi Katy and her dad,
While we are unable to provide you with a species name, we can provide you with the genus for this horned Caterpillar.  It is in the genus Charaxes, a group of Brush Footed Butterflies found in Africa.  According to the Butterfly Corner website, there are over 180 species of Charaxes.  Members of the genus are also found in India and other parts of Asia where they are known as Pashas or Rajahs.  While this is not your species, you can see the similarities to this Madagascar native, the Green Veined Charaxes on the Online Fieldguide website.

charaxes cat africa katy 300x191 Charaxes Caterpillar from the Congo

Charaxes Caterpillar

Hi Daniel,
Would you please put me in contact with Katy’s dad regarding the following?
I might be able to provide a specific ID (the Charaxinae are one of my research subjects; it was I, not David Lees, who initially identified the Malagasy Green-veined Charaxes larva for Philip Bowles), but first need a bit more information and hopefully higher res photos.  Thanks very much!
Cheers,
Keith Wolfe

 

Posted 26 July 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Metamorphosis of a Crescent Butterfly

Partial life stages of a crescent butterfly species

crescent caterpillars chris 300x278 Metamorphosis of a Crescent Butterfly

Crescent Caterpillars

Partial life stages of a crescent butterfly species
Location: Cheney Kansas
July 12, 2011 7:05 pm
I’ve been documenting this species of butterfly from my garden..I think it’s from the crescent family just not sure of the exact species of crescent.
I collected the caterpillar and it formed it’s chrysalis in a jar and about a week later it transformed into a butterfly.
Signature: Chris Harris

crescent pupa chris 300x221 Metamorphosis of a Crescent Butterfly

Crescent Chrysalis

Hi Chris,
Your documentation of the metamorphosis of a Crescent Butterfly is an excellent addition to our website.  This is most likely a Pearl Crescent, Phyciodes tharos, though some other members of the genus look very similar. You can find the Pearl Crescent and others on BugGuide.  We are setting your posting to go live over the weekend while we are out of the office.

crescent butterfly chris 300x193 Metamorphosis of a Crescent Butterfly

Pearl Crescent

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Posted 16 July 2011 § Brush Footed Butterflies ‡ Comments (2) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Morning Cloak Caterpillar aggregation

Gathering of Mourning Cloak ”Cats”
Location: Marsh area, N. Ohio
June 27, 2011 10:16 am
Dear Bugman: I spotted this cluster of Mourning Cloak caterpillars, while on a nature trail in a northern Ohio marsh.
I have never seen so many of these cats gathered all together before. At first I thought they we some kind of tent caterpillar. They were feeding on willow leaves.
I noticed an interesting behavior. While some ”cats” were eating, others kept their heads up and made jerking, bobbing motions with them, all in unison. It was like synchronized head bobbing. Is this some kind of defense or early warning system behavior?
Signature: Chrstine O.

morning cloak cats aggregation christine 300x201 Morning Cloak Caterpillar aggregation

Morning Cloak Caterpillars

Hi Christine,
We love your photograph.  Caterpillars that form aggregations by remaining in close proximity to one another while feeding and resting generally derive benefits from the safety in numbers notion.  While we cannot comment specifically on the head bobbing you witnessed, your hypothesis is consistent with a defense explanation.  Morning Cloak Caterpillars will remain in a communal state until they are ready to pupate, though often the chrysalides are also found in “colonies”, though the metamorphosis generally occurs away from the food plant.  It has been our observation that this year we have seen more Mourning Cloak Butterflies in Los Angeles than in any year in recent memory.  It seems from the mail that we have received that there may be a spike in the population of Mourning Cloak butterflies and caterpillars this year.  Often population advances and declines are cyclical.  Perhaps the unseasonal rains in both the Pacific Southwest and in the Mid West this year are responsible for the population surge.

Posted 27 June 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

A bucket of Morning Cloak Caterpillars

A bucket of caterpillars
Location: San Diego, CA
June 26, 2011 6:23 pm
My son brought these in today. What are they?
Signature: Misty

morning cloak caterpillars 300x206 A bucket of Morning Cloak Caterpillars

Morning Cloak Caterpillars

Hi Misty,
You have a bucket of Morning Cloak Caterpillars.  They will metamorphose into a beautiful purplish black butterfly with cream colored wing edges and blue spots.  It appears that there is one Chinese elm tree leaf in the bucket, and they feed on the leaves of elm as well as willow.  If you try to keep them in captivity, give them plenty of room, like a 10 gallon aquarium with a screen lid.  Feed them fresh leaves each day.  You can cut small branches from the tree.  It would probably be better to return most of them to the tree upon which they were feeding and only keep a few for raising.

Posted 27 June 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Eggs Hatching

Monarch caterpillar egg (Danaus plexippus)
Location: Naperville, IL
June 21, 2011 8:25 pm
Dear Bugman~
I thought you might like to have these photos I took today of the first of our 2011 Monarch caterpillars. We live in the midst of a prairie preserve with a lot of common milkweed, and we keep a few plants in our front yard for the purpose of raising Monarchs each summer. The one on the right has just hatched and has turned around to begin eating its shell. My photos of it actually hatching were too blurry, as I was in a hurry. The one on the left hatched after I left it, but I will plenty of opportunities for better shots. Best regards.
Signature: Dori Eldridge

monarch egg hatchling dori 300x225 Monarch Eggs Hatching

Hatchling Monarch Caterpillar

Hi Dori,
We are positively thrilled to receive your excellent images of a newly hatched Monarch Caterpillar and a sibling egg about to hatch.  This very nicely rounds out our Monarch Butterfly metamorphosis as we now have all stages of development, though several Caterpillar instars may be missing.  We do have a question about the anatomy of the milkweed.  It appears that buds are just sitting on a leaf, and that they are not properly connected to the plant.  Can you please explain if this was a result of gathering eggs from a different plant.

monarch egg hatchling dori 2 300x225 Monarch Eggs Hatching

Hatchling Monarch Caterpillar

 

Posted 22 June 2011 § Eggs ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: ,

Mourning Cloak Caterpillar

Caterpillar
Location: San Fernando Valley, CA
May 29, 2011 7:28 pm
My niece & I found this guy crawling around our porch. We can’t figure out what it is and would like to know what it eats as well.
Signature: KA

mourning cloak cat la ka 300x236 Mourning Cloak Caterpillar

Mourning Cloak Caterpillar

Dear KA,
We have seen numerous adult Mourning Cloak butterflies this spring.  They are medium sized dark butterflies with irregular pale yellow wing edges.  It makes sense that with numerous adults, there will be a population explosion of Mourning Cloak Caterpillars like yours.  They feed on Chinese Elm, though originally they fed on the native willow that grows along the water in riparian habitats.

Thank you so much for the immediate response. Hopefully we can see it turn into a butterfly soon icon smile Mourning Cloak Caterpillar

mourning cloak cat la ka 21 300x215 Mourning Cloak Caterpillar

Mourning Cloak Caterpillar

Posted 29 May 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Tawny Emperor Caterpillar, we believe

strange caterpillar in Waxahachie, Texas
Location: Waxahachie, Texas
May 1, 2011 10:15 am
I saw this strange caterpillar crawling on a bench in Waxahachie, Texas. It looked like it had a face of a cartoon frog with eyes. My son commented that it had ”eye antennas”. It looked a little like a Chinese dragon as well. What is this thing?
Signature: Stacey R.

emperor cat stacey 286x300 Tawny Emperor Caterpillar, we believe

Tawny Emperor Caterpillar

Hi Stacey,
This caterpillar with metamorphose into one of the Emperor Butterflies in the genus Asterocampa.  We believe, based on this image from BugGuide, that your caterpillar is a Tawny Emperor Caterpillar, Asterocampa clyton, though the other members of the genus have similar looking caterpillars.

Thanks, you are amazing!
Stacey

Posted 01 May 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

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