Morpho helenor
March 26, 2010
CATERPILLAR GENUS MORPHO,AMERICA SOUTH,REGION FOZ DO IGUAÇÚ-PARANÁ,BRAZIL.
EDUARDO LUCOF
BRAZIL-PARANÁ

Morpho helenor Caterpillar

Hi Eduardo,
Thanks for sending in the beautiful image of a Morpho helenor Caterpillar, though we wonder how you acquired the photo since Roberto Rezende is the name on the copyright.

0   I like This

Common Crow Caterpillar
oh i just took a photo of one of these a couple of days ago!  i’m new to the site so once i figure out how to post it, i will!

Common Crow Caterpillar
March 16, 2010
Hello!
I took a great photo of a common crow caterpillar a couple of days ago, and i just wanted to share! here ya go!
Kimberly
Brisbane, Australia

Common Crow Caterpillar

Hi Kimberly,
Welcome to our humble website.  We are thrilled to have received your excellent photo of a Common Crow Caterpillar to add to our archives.  According to the Australian Museum website, the Common Crow is also called the Oleander Butterfly because the caterpillar feeds on the leaves of oleander as well as milkweed.  The website lists the food plants for the caterpillar:  “The female Common Crow Butterfly lays its eggs on the leaves of plants that have a milky sap. In Sydney, these include: oleander (Nerium oleander, Family Apocynaceae), and two species of figs (Family Moraceae), the Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa) and the Weeping Fig (F. benjamina). Other food plants include garden plants such as Chilean Jasmine (Mandevillea laxa), Chinese Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), Stephanotis spp, and Milkweeds (Asclepias spp).“

2   I like This

Mysterious pupa with shiny silver spikes
March 3, 2010
Hello!
We are in Lusaka, Zambia, living a bit out in the country. Today I noticed this jewel-like pupa latched onto a metal planter.
The pupa is dull pink with really shiny silver spikes along its case (almost like solder). The spikes are tipped with black at the very end. The length of the pupa is approximately 20mm.
We’ve seen a bunch of awesome bugs here in Zambia, but this one is particularly stunning.
Kim and Craig
Lusaka Zambia

Brush Footed Butterfly Chrysalis

Dear Kim and Craig,
We doubt that we will be able to provide you with a species identification for this beautiful Brush Footed Butterfly Chrysalis in the family Nymphalidae, but we are struck by the more than casual resemblance to the Chrysalis of the North American Variegated Fritillary, Euptoieta claudia, which is pictured on BugGuide.

Hi Daniel, Kim and Craig:
I think you are definitely on the right track, Daniel, and I may be able to advance this a little further. I think it belong to a group of Fritillaries known as Leopards or Leopard Fritillaries. The most common one, the Common Leopard (also Green or African Leopard), Phalanta phalantha, occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and the chrysalis looks very similar to this one. Although all of the images I was able to find showed a chrysalis with a pale green base color, I did find a reference to “whitish-pink” color variant. According to most references the larvae prefer to feed on willows but apparently they will snack on a large variety of plants. Having said all that, there is at least one other species of Phalanta in Zambia, as well as numerous other related species, which could have similar looking chrysalises (hard to identify from the internet alone). Nevertheless, I think Leopard is a good bet. Regards.
Karl

Update on Common Leopard Chrysalis
March 6, 2010
Hello Kim and Craig,
More on your most likely African (Common) Leopard . . .
http://photocamel.com/forum/macro-close-up-photography/77155-some-more-breeding-shots-post725215.html#post725215
. . . and its uncommon pinkish pupal morph (this from Taiwan):
http://nc.kl.edu.tw/bbs/showpost.php?p=385369&postcount=1.
Best wishes,
Keith Wolfe

1   I like This

Green feathery caterpillar
January 17, 2010
My father found this in his home garden. It’s feathery and looks really beautiful . Is it rare? We never seen anything like this at least.
SB
Bangalore, South India

Baron Caterpillar

Dear SB,
We are unable to provide you with a definitive species identification at the moment, but there is a striking similarity to your caterpillar and the Crowned Slug Caterpillar, Isa textula, from North America.  We can say with confidence that they are in the same family, the Stinging Slug Caterpillars in the family Limacodidae.  Handle with care as they can sting.

Correction thanks to Karl
January 18, 2009
Hi Daniel:
Well, I probably would have put money on this being a Limacodid caterpillar, but I could find nothing
that looked like a good candidate. I now think it is probably a Baron (sometimes Baronet) butterfly in
the genus Euthalia (Nymphalidae: Limenitidinae). One online list of Indian butterflies listed 53 species
in this genus so I don’t think we are likely to nail this one down. The caterpillar photos I did find all
looked very similar, for example the Common Baron (E. aconthea), which is found throughout India
(http://wapedia.mobi/en/Common_Baron). I couldn’t find any reference to a stinging threat, but I
would certainly avoid touching any caterpillar that looks this prickly.  It could all be about camouflage;
feathery spines to break up the outline and a mid-dorsal stripe to mimic the mid-vein of a leaf (check
out the link, above). Regards.
Karl

0   I like This