Caterpillar with a crown?
Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 6:22 AM
Hi, I found this caterpillar-like creature in a canal near my house. Can you help me to identify it? Thank you.
JY
Singapore
Nawab Caterpillar
Hi JY,
This is a Nawab Caterpillar from the genus Polyura. Information online indicates that there are only two species in Singapore. The caterpillar is not an exact match to the Blue Nawab, Polyura schreiber tisamenus, pictured on the Expert Insight website, but it looks even less like the Plain Nawab, Polyura hebe, also pictured on the Expert Insight website. We also located a Polyura web page that indicates there are more species in Singapore, but we can’t locate images of the caterpillars. You will have to be satisfied with the genus Polyura and the common name Nawab Butterfly. In March 2008, we posted a photo of an Australian member of the genus, Polyura sempronius, and found that its common name is the Tailed Emperor.
Correction: December 18, 2008
Caterpillar Identifications
Hello again, Daniel. a few other IDs and correction. Only two Nawabs ( Polyura ) presently fly in Singapore, both of which I am familiar with. This is a larval Blue Nawab ( P. schreiber ), which can be distinguished from the Plain Nawab ( P. hebe ) by its differently configured head horns and single — though at times absent, as here — dorsal crescent. I hope the above information is helpful.
Best wishes,
Keith Wolfe
aka “EarlyStages”
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Posted 14 November 2008
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Caterpillar Resembles Lizard and Bird Droppings
Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 5:02 PM Dear Bugman,
Love the website. Maybe you can help me indentify these stranger caterpillars I found this morning terrorizing my baby lemon tree. At first, I thought they were lizards, because of the “eyes” on their backs, and noticed they also look like bird poo . The biggest one erected two giant antenae. I captured some of the larger, more aggressive ones and created a little habitat. Any chance they’ll turn into butterflies?
Thanks! -Kyle
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar
Hi Kyle,
This is a Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar and it will metamorphose into a large lovely brown and yellow butterfly.
Caterpillar
Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 6:21 PM
Dear Bugman,
Today, I found this caterpillar on my driveway underneath a Hickory tree. It is about 1 1/2 inches long, light brown, purple dots and two, yellow, “eye-like” dots on its body behind its head. When I carefully picked it up, I must have startled it and a strange yellow, forked tongue(?) came to its defense along with a strange odor. I’ve seen many insect defense mechanisms but none quite like this. Anyway, I live in Sussex County, New Jersey (northwest) and have never seen a caterpillar like this. Looking at your photos it appears to be a swallowtail of some type. Can you identify for sure? Thanks!
Tina Newfield
Northwest NJ, Sussex County
Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar
Hi Tina,
This is most likely an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar, but you are also within the range of the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail. This typically green caterpillar changes color to brown or occasionally orange just before pupation. The scent gland you mentioned is characteristic of the swallowtails and is known as the osmetrium.
Orange Caterpillar
Orange caterpiller with plue dots observed outdoors in September in El Paso Texas.
Em
El Paso Texas
Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar
Hi Em,
This is a Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar.
Ed. Note: Another reader sent in a similar photo, and though it was not posted live, we did respond. We got the following thank you note:
Thank You. I finally was able to Identify him about the time you sent me the answer. I only spent three or so hours searching and fixating on the darn thing, to find out that he(?) is getting ready to pupate. My family had to pry me from the computer so I would eat. LOL. I would have loved to have had the Web when I was a little girl. Good thing I had encyclopedias and a library.
sincerely grateful,
Patricia Neville
Do you know what this is?
My daughter found this caterpillar (I think) in our driveway this afternoon. It is about 1.5 inches long. I looked on several websites and couldn’t find anything exactly like it. Do you know the species of caterpillar (if that is what it is) this is?
Metropolis, IL (Southern)
Just curious
Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar
Dear Curious
Your photo depicts a Spicebush Swallowtail just prior to metamorphosis. Many typically green caterpillars change colors like brown or orange just before molting into the chrysalis or pupa stage. The false eyespots help protect the tasty caterpillar by fooling predators into thinking the caterpillar is much larger and possibly dangerous. They make the caterpillar look like a snake.
pretty yellow caterpillars devouring my shrub
We’ve got lots of these guys all over a yellow flowering tree/shrub in our yard (not esperanza). We’ve never seen them before because this is the first year the tree/shrub is flowering. It had been in a dry, shady spot prior but this spring we moved it to a sunny area where it benefits from our sprinkler system and so now is flowering like crazy. And these guys have moved in and are busily munching away. What are they?
Northwest Austin Thank you!
Vicki
Cloudless Sulphur Caterpillar
Hi Vicki,
Losing a few blossoms is a small price to pay for the reward of the numerous clear yellow, fast flying Cloudless Sulphur Butterflies, Phoebis sennae, that will fly about your garden after the metamorphosis is complete. Interestingly, Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars that feed on the leaves of Cassia are green, and those that feed on the flowers are yellow.
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Posted 21 September 2008
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Green caterpillar
Hello,
I am normally pretty good with bugs but graduated college before I had a chance to take the immatures course. There are about a dozen of these caterpillars that are bright green with brownish heads and small, bright orange eye spots encasing themselves on my false-indigo plant. I am assuming they are moths because they appear to be ready to spin cocoons, and not likely sphinx moths because there is no anal horn. Can you tell me what these might be and if they are possibly pests?
Thanks!
Columbia, MO
Amy
Silver Spotted Skipper Caterpillar
Hi Amy,
We are very thrilled to receive your great photo of a Silver Spotted Skipper Caterpillar, Epargyreus clarus. You can get more information about the species on BugGuide. Skippers are classified as butterflies, but many books, especially older books, consider them to be transitional between butterflies and moths in that they have characteristics of both.
Complete butterfly life cycle in central Missouri
I tried (and probably failed) to send pictures of the caterpillar and cocoon I had in my classroom.
The day he hatched, the cocoon turned transparent, and it hatched on September 10. We released it the next day. Attached are pictures of the caterpillar, his cocoon right after he completed it,
the cocoon just before it hatched,
a picture of him right after he hatched, still drying and next to his empty cocoon, and a final picture of him on a plant in our classroom. I unfortunately could not get a shot of his spread wings, but they were solid yellow, with a very narrow band of black at the edges. If you’d like, we took a few pictures of his face and wings with our hand-held microscope, which I can try to copy over and send if you’d like some 10x magnification views of him. Just let me know! Love your site,
Science Teacher in Missouri
Dear Science Teacher,
Your documentation of what we believe to be a Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae, are greatly appreciated. The image of the transparent chrysalis is most interesting. You can find out more about this species on BugGuide.
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