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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

White Admiral Caterpillar

Any idea what this catapillar is?
This is on a small willow tree in our yard on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, and I have never seen one that looks like this before. No luck so far in finding out what it is. It’s rear is raised and head tucked under at the end with the yellow. Large brown head & 2 spirally dark spikes. Any chance someone there knows? It is about 2 inches long. Thanks,
Ian.

Hi Ian,
This is a White Admiral Caterpillar, Limenitis arthemis. The White Admiral is the northern subspecies and the Red Spotted Purple is the southern subspecies. Where the two subspecies overlap in range, there is a gradual intergradations of physical characteristics. A third subspecies is the Western White Admiral.

Cloudless Sulphur Chrysalis

Can you ID me?
Hi Bugman,
Can you please help me identify this “thing”…. I live in Coconut Creek, Florida and saw this on one of my Jasmine plants that I recently brought home from the nursery (bonus!!). I’ve searched the internet far and wide but … just haven’t come across anything that looks like this. Can you help ID me? Thanks so much!
Debi
PS – LOVE your website.

Hi Debi,
This is the Chrysalis of a large yellow butterfly known as the Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae, sometimes called the Senna Sulphur, though it might also be from a close relative, the Orange Barred Sulphur, Phoebis philea.

Chalcedon Checkerspot Caterpillar

Chalcedon Checkerspot caterpillar
Hi Lisa Anne and Daniel.
On 4/30 I found three of these caterpillars dining on Wyoming Kittentails west of Casper, WY. After our subsequent 6″ of global warming melted, I located 15 yesterday. Hopefully a chrysalid photo will ensue. Peace, Love and Jerry Garcia,
Dwaine

Hi Dwaine,
Thanks for keeping us up on current Wyoming Lepidoptera. The inclusion of the penny is a nice indication of scale. The Chalcedon Checkerspot represents a new caterpillar species for our site.

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Monarch Caterpillar: Best Letter in a Long Time!!!

Lesson Learned in Florida
Last spring, I tried in vain to keep eight, young, butterfly plants alive in my modest flower garden. “How wonderful it would be to attract beautiful butterflies”, I thought. To my dismay, fat, yellow, aphids appeared by the dozens on each little plant. They were herded by fire ants from a nearby nest. For weeks, I squished aphids, always marveling at the protectiveness of the ants and sheer numbers of aphids they managed. While walking in the cattle pasture one day, I saw an entire plant covered with aphids. I was horrified that the source of these bugs was a weed that had appeared in our pastures in record abundance, presumably due to a long drought experienced here in northern Florida. Since we raise natural beef cattle, I picked many of these weeds by hand out of our pastures, but to my dismay, as I picked them, their seed pods were already releasing fluffy seeds for next year. This spring, the population of these plants was even higher than last year! So, I began picking these plants early this year, well before they could complete their seed pods. I didn’t get far before I noticed a caterpillar on one of the plants. It was a monarch! (See pictures below). I looked at my hands and noticed the milky substance from the few plants I had already picked. How ironic that I waged a (thankfully) unsuccessful war against what turned out to be a milkweed native to Florida because I wanted to save a few measly butterfly plants! How completely human of me. Little did I know that I had several hundred or more plants in the pastures that were the perfect diet for the very creature I was seeking to attract. I have learned my lesson and sworn off meddling with milkweeds or anything else unless I know for certain that it is a threat to native wildlife.
Alicia

Hi Alicia,
Thank you for writing one of the best letters we have received in a long time. We are excited to post your photo of a Monarch Caterpillar.

Glad you enjoyed it! I’m researching when these caterpillars will complete their pupa stage and emerge as butterflies. We plan to rotate the cattle in our other pastures until then to keep the monarchs safe. We already made changes in our livestock management to accommodate two other threatened species: gopher tortoises and Sherman fox squirrels. Gratefully,
Alicia

Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar

unknown caterpillar
I found this while clearing out a place on our acreage in town. We live on the Texas Coast in the coastal plains, in Calhoun County. There were three of them on a Chinese Tallow branch that I trimmed. I couldn’t find any damaged leaves around them, so they may have just been on the move. I found them on my oleander plant this morning, just “chillin.” Other plants nearby where I found them – dewberry, lantana, Texas persimmon, poison ivy (I didn’t get into that, don’t worry!) Mustang grapevine, tickseed, thistle, wild chives. We have more but they are much farther away from the spot. Hope you can help – my son and I are very curious. I couldn’t find them on BugGuide or What’s That Bug. Thanks -
Michelle

Hi Michelle,
Searching our archives at What’s That Bug?, as well as searching the archives of our favorite identification site BugGuide (and BugGuide is way more organized than we are), can be a daunting task if you don’t know exactly what you are searching for. Both of our sites have numerous images of your species, the Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar, Battus philenor. Interestingly, none of the plants you mention are host plants for the caterpillar. According to BugGuide: “Larvae feed on Aristolochia species. These include ‘Pipevine’ or ‘Dutchman’s Pipe’, Aristolochia species ( tomentosa, durior, reticulata, californica ), as well as Virginia Snakeroot, Aristolochia serpentaria. Larvae presumably take up toxic secondary compounds from their hostplant.” Your photo indicates this is probably the final instar for the caterpillar and it is getting ready to metamorphose into a chrysalis. If that is true, the caterpillars might be wandering away from the plant that they were eating in search of the perfect location for pupation.

Mourning Cloak Chrysalids

Can you identify this chrysalis?
I encountered four chrysalis hanging from the doorframe of a storage shed (Altadena, California, USA–Los Angeles area). Can you identify the species? 3 jpegs attached. Thanks,
Mike Hickman

Hi Mike,
These are Mourning Cloak butterfly chrysalids. There is a great photo on BugGuide of a group of chrysalids, but they were raised in captivity. Locally, the caterpillars feed mainly on Chinese Elm and Willow.

Hackberry Emperor Caterpillar

Interesting caterpillar
Here are some photos of a very small and strange looking caterpillar we have in our backyard. It has a large and noble head with the two horns. It looks like nothing else on your neat site. The caterpillar spent the night evidently going around in circles on the top of a bucket. When I placed it on a plant it inched off. Tried a striped ivy and now he is climbing a hackberry. Does it look familiar to you? Thanks so much.
Randy and Jan
San Antonio, Texas

Hi Randy and Jan,
If this is not a Hackberry Emperor Caterpillar, Asterocampa celtis, then it is one of the other Emperors in the same genus.

American Lady Caterpillar on Plantain-Leaved Pussytoes

Da bug
I am a ranger at Okefenokee NWR, where we have many species of butterflies. I found this caterpillar on March 28, 2008, on what may be it’s host plant. Can you identify the caterpillar, and, ideally, the plant? Thanks for a great website!
Sallie Gentry
Refuge Ranger
Okefenokee NWR
Folkston, GA

Da bug
Sallie,
Here’s your caterpillar. Have you figured out the plant yet? See you Monday.
JR

Hi Sally,
It looks like JR gave you a task for the weekend. The caterpillar is an American Lady Caterpillar, Vanessa virginiensis. We found a website that states: “The larvae, unlike those of the Painted Lady, feed on a comparatively limited range of foodplants. The preferred food sources are plants of the everlasting tribe of the Compositae, such as sweet everlasting ( Graphalium obtusifolium ), pearly everlasting ( Anaphalis margaritacea ), and plantain-leaved pussytoes ( Antennaria plantaginifolia ); they also feed occasionally on burdock ( Arctium ), wormwood ( Artemisia ), and ironweed ( Vernonia ) (Opler and Krizek 1984; Scott 1986).” Additional web searching led us to the Connecticut Botanical Society website. We believe your plant is the Plantain-Leaved Pussytoes, Antennaria plantaginifolia, also known as Woman’s Tobacco.

Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar

Osmeterium Down Under
Hello Mr Bugman,
My kids found this fellow on our lemon tree, just north of Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. When I went to pick it up, the bright pink protuberances gave me such a fright that I nearly dropped it! The smell was more floral than offensive but took ages to wash off, and we were fascinated by the aggression with which this rather large caterpillar fought against contact. Of course, we went searching on the net, and learned about the osmeterium, but couldn’t quite identify the caterpillar. It looks somewhat like your US species of swallowtails or is it some type of moth? I thoroughly enjoyed your beautiful website.
Kamara

Hi Kamara,
It is surprising that once armed with a powerful vocabulary word like osmeterium, that you were unable to properly identify this Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar, Papilio aegeus, which is sometimes called the Large Citrus Butterfly or just Orchard Butterfly.

Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar and Tailed Emperor Caterpillar from Australia

interesting catapillars
Hi There,
My son is obsessed with bugs ( at 2 1/2) and so I have taken to photographing them for him. Could you tell me what these catapillars are and what butterfly they turn into. The first ones ( spiky) were both on the same mandarin tree but I did not get to see what chrysalis was, presumalbly because birds ate them? This second cool catapillar ( with horns on it’s head) I think may be off a poincianna tree. What do you think? We live in Brisbane, Australia. The third ( fat brown) catapillar was on a benjamin fig tree and again I think the birds got them. I also am sending in this pic of a cool weevil thing that my son caught and later let go. It was trying very hard to bite him! Thanks, Connor is a real fan even though he can’t read he would sit and look at bug picutres on your site all day if I let him! Yours,
Liza

Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillar Tailed Emperor Caterpillar


Hi Liza,
The spiky caterpillars on your mandarin tree are Orchard Swallowtail Caterpillars, Papilio aegeus. The caterpillar with a crown of spikes is a Tailed Emperor, Polyura sempronius.

Cloudless Sulphur Caterpillar

what is this caterpillar?
Hi Bugman,
I found this caterpillar in Santa Barbara, California. I found it interesting that it matched the color of the plant I found it on. I have looked around a bit on the web to identify it without any luck. Can you help? Also, any idea which plant it is eating? Thank you!!
Dan Sullivan

Hi Dan,
This is a Cloudless Sulphur Caterpillar, Phoebis sennae, also called the Senna Sulphur. The butterfly is a large, clear yellow, fast flying species. The plant is Senna. As a means of camouflage, the caterpillars are often green when feeding on the leaves, and yellow when feeding on the blossoms.

The Knight: Caterpillar

Hi Daniel,
It’s me again…I came across this nasty looking caterpillar (see attached file) among the bushes & I think they belong to the species called “Lebadea Martha Parkeri” (The Knight). Just wondering if you can confirm this. Thanks once again for your valuable help. Cheers,
Eddie

Hi again Eddie,
Once you had provided us with all the information, our google search was easy, but one of the first sites we found had a suspiciously familiar looking image. Sure enough, it was your exact photo. Reading the content revealed it as your web site, Living the Simple Life. We continued to search for proof that your identification was correct, and found the The Caterpillar Gallery of the Butterfly Interest Group of Singapore which contains an image of the caterpillar of The Knight, Lebadea martha parkeri, and it looks like a match to your caterpillar, so we agree with your identification.


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