large caterpillar found in our yard near Charleston SC
Hello,
attached please find a photo of the largest caterpillar my husband and I have ever seen. Any ideas what it is and what we should feed it or where we should put it to feed itself? thanks,
Kate Hammond
Summerville, SC
Hi Kate,
This magnificent specimen is an Imperial Moth Caterpillar, Eacles imperialis. We have numerous images of the stages of metamorphosis of this beautiful moth. The caterpillar looks to be about ready to pupate, judging by its color, though this is a highly variable caterpillar with regards to coloration. It will pupate underground in loose soil. It is not interested in eating at this point. The caterpillars are often discovered searching for a good place to dig into the ground after leaving the trees upon which they have been feeding.
¶ Posted 23 July 2008 § ‡ ° Can you tell me what this is???
I found this guy in my yard and snapped some pretty cool photos of him. What is he? Thanks,
Sara Pruett
Charlotte, TX
Hi Sara,
This looks like the Calleta Silkmoth Caterpillar, Eupackardia calleta, which we identified on Kirby Wolfe’s wonderful website. The Moth and Butterflies of North America indicates it ranges in Texas and that the larval food plants are : “Ceniza (Leucophyllum frutescens), ash (Fraxinus), Mexican jumping bean (Sapium biloculare), and ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens). “.
¶ Posted 11 June 2008 § ‡ ° what is this cocoon?
Hi I came across this cocoon about 2 weeks ago on the ground. It has been scratching on the inside ever since. I’ve determined it might be a polymorphous moth. Any thoughts? Also how long will it take before it will hatch? Thanks,
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
We are nearly positive that this is a Luna Moth Cocoon, but it might be a Polyphemus Moth. Without meaning to sound smug, it will hatch when it is ready. The complexity of insect metamorphosis is not like a three minute egg. Some combination of time, temperature, humidity, length of day, and perhaps airborn pheromones will trigger the hatching.
¶ Posted 18 May 2008 § ‡ ° Mystery Egg Sac(?) in Minnesota
Hello Bugman,
I live in Minneapolis, MN. A couple weeks ago I noticed an egg sac (I think that is what it is) on a shrub branch (I think its an ornamental Ribes/currant shrub) in our front yard landscaping (see attached photo). I looked through your website and it looks as if it may be a praying mantis egg sac? I’d be curious what you think…thanks for any light you can shed on our front yard mystery critters. If it is a good critter, we want to watch it hatch. If it is a bad (e.g., invasive) critter, we may want to destroy or at least contain the hatchlings. Also, do you reply to e-mails, or do we need to visit WTB website (and look where for your response). Thanks!
Doug, Griffin & Eva
Hi Doug, Griffin and Eva,
We believe this is the Cocoon of a Cecropia Moth, but it is also possibly the cocoon of the closely related Columbia Silk Moth. Since we are only able to post a fraction of the letters we receive, we often send short responses first. We don’t even have the time to answer personally every letter we receive, but we try to answer as many as possible. Some questions are so vague, or images so blurry, that we just ignore them. When we post an answer, there is generally a more detailed response, and we email that to the querant, but sometimes we forget. In your case, you got a short answer originally, and now that we are posting letters from May 3, yours included, you are getting a second more detailed answer.
¶ Posted 03 May 2008 § ‡ ° You wanted C regalis pupae photos? 
Hi Bugman,
Love your site. I’m sure your comment that you don’t have many HHD pupae will prompt a flood, so I’m adding to it. I also have a couple of moths from Taiwan for ID I’m attaching: 1st: appears to be an Arctiid, tried searching with “clear winged” / “Taiwan” and did not locate anything. Location: Sun-Moon lake, Nantou county 2nd: attracted to lights at ~ 3000 ft. Location: Nantou county Thanks for your thoughts. Photos taken with Sony DSC-H2, auto, macro mode, cropped and resized with Microsoft Paint.
Ray
Hi Ray,
Your letter is so funny. We were hardly deluged with photos of Regal Moth or Royal Walnut Moth Pupae, but we did get two submissions. Your photo is wonderful. We have been very busy and are way behind in posting new submissions. We will try to address your Arctiid questions in the future.
¶ Posted 15 April 2008 § ‡ ° a couple pictures of regal moth (Citheronia regalis) pupa
Hi,
I knowticed on your site that you guys were “lacking” images of the regal moth in its pupal stage. Well this past summer I raised some of these guys and took some pictures of the pupae. They’ll be hatching in a few months aswell. Enjoy
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
There is nothing like instant gratification. The ink was barely dry on our request and your photos were in our mailbox. We have been so busy it has taken a few days for us to post them live. Thanks for sending your Regal Moth Pupa images.
¶ Posted 14 April 2008 § ‡ ° What was that bug?
Hi Bugman !
I was recently visiting my folks in Maine, this cocoon(?) was in a maple tree in the yard. It is probably about 5 inches long. What do you think? Pondering in Portland,
Jim
Hi Jim,
This is a Cecropia Moth Cocoon. The small hole in the second photograph indicates that it may have been parasitized since it seems to small for the adult moth to have emerged.
Great peacock moth caterpillar
Hello! I met this chubby fluorescent chap with really bright blue specks on a hillside path near Grenoble, in the French Alps, last August. I am from England and therefore am not used to large, alien-looking insects, so was very excited. I identified it as a great peacock moth caterpillar, the largest European moth. I just wanted to share it with your site’s caterpillar fans. Thank you!
Emilie Pavey, Grenoble
Hi Emilie,
Thanks for sending us your wonderful image of the Great Peacock Moth Caterpillar, Saturnia pyri. We cropped your credit card out of the photo. While we agree it was a good indication of scale, which we generally appreciate, we felt the card distracted from the beauty of the caterpillar. Our readership might want to know that this Great Peacock Moth Caterpillar was longer than a standard Visa card. While researching the web, we discovered an image of this species painted by Vincent van Gogh.
¶ Posted 29 February 2008 § ‡ ° 
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