rss Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar?
Location: southern indiana
September 9, 2011 9:55 pm
I found this little guy today on the side of my house and have never saw anything like it. Is this a Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar
Signature: Brian
Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar
Hi Brian,
Your identification of the Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar or Milkweed Tiger Moth Caterpillar, Euchaetes egle, is absolutely correct.
Detailed series of pics of monarch caterpillar to pupa
Location: Central Wisconsin
September 7, 2011 11:22 pm
Hi! First of all, I want to thank you for your time and devotion to this site. I’ve been lurking for a few years, and have identified a few critters with the help that you give others. From my own failed attempts to keep a site/blog going, I know how much work it is, and I’m so glad you don’t have the same problem I do of letting it slide into oblivion. 
My new hobby lately is to collect caterpillars. Some of my first have been monarchs–they’ve been really active at the caterpillar stage around Central Wisconsin. This is actually the first year I’ve ever seen one, but that doesn’t mean much since my attention has been elsewhere. I’ve brought a total of 7 home over the last week and a half, and within the first 3 days, all of my original 5 turned into pupa, and the latest 2 additions from the last field search has one as a pupa and the other currently finding his spot for his J.
Monarch Caterpillar prepares for metamorphosis
I was amazed at how fast the transformation was, and was disappointed with the first 4 turning into their cocoons before I could capture them with the camera. Finally I noted the signs I’d read about in one of my J’s, and sat like a hawk for hours to capture the following series of photos and video. I thought you may be interested, but understand if this is a rather common submission.
Since there are multiple photos all in my album, I’ll give the main link of the album along with using the form fields below for a few of them.
Main/full album: http://photobucket.com/monarch_metamorphosis
Signature: ScribbleMuse
Monarch Caterpillar begins transformation
Dear ScribbleMuse,
Thanks for the lovely documentation. Common insects are often quite new to our readers who have logged onto our site for the first few times, and we always try to post timely submissions that new readers might encounter. Your series of photos is quite wonderful, and we hope our readers visit the link you have provided so they can view the entire transformation process.
Monarch Chrysalis
Thank you for the compliments! I’ve been finding that common components of nature often have quite extraordinary details when I take the time to look at them, and have had quite a few rewarding experiences. Usually I’m hoping to capture just a nice still shot of something and then find something fascinating in the actions (or sometimes inactions) of the subject.
Thanks again for your time not only to me, but in general to provide this helpful website!
Lisha/ScribbleMuse
Beautiful caterpillar
Location: Peterborough, Ontario
September 6, 2011 11:20 pm
Found this lovely little critter under some leaves in the Peterborough, Ontario area early September. I don’t think I’ve seen one of these before and am wondering who it is?
Signature: Gerry
Pandora Sphinx
Hi Gerry,
Eumorpha pandorus, the caterpillar of the Pandora Sphinx, feeds upon the leaves of grapes as your photo indicates.
i found this crazy caterpillar
Location: Denton, NC
September 5, 2011 10:52 am
Hello.. while sitting outside this crazy thing came strolling by and I just had to know what it was!! Can you help?
Signature: Amanda Presker
White Blotched Heterocampa Caterpillar
Hi Amanda,
This Prominent Moth Caterpillar in the genus Heterocampa is most likely the White Blotched Heterocampa, Heterocampa umbrata. You can see many examples on BugGuide of similarly colored purple individuals. This species, like many caterpillars, changes color right before pupation, and the green camouflage coloration is replaced by this stunning purple and magenta coloration.
beautiful caterpillars destroying my collards
Location: Washington, DC
September 4, 2011 5:38 pm
I love your site! I found these beauties chowing down on my collard plants in early September in Washington, DC, and I have yet to identify them. They’re about an inch long and didn’t appear hairy until I expanded the photos. They have a black and white pattern on top, bordered by yellow which then turns to green on the bottom. Reddish-brown head. Maybe a type of skipper?
Signature: Rachel
Cross Striped Cabbageworms
Hi Rachel,
We have been trying all manner of web searching options to try to identify your caterpillars, which looked vaguely familiar to us, but we could not recall their identity. Finally an image search of “collard eating caterpillar” turned up (numerous pages into the search) an image that matched your photo. It is on the BellaOnLine forum under “What is Eating my Brussels Sprouts?”, and it was identified as the Cross Striped Cabbageworm, Evergestis rimosalis, by Lisa Shea. We double checked that on BugGuide and learned that the identification was correct and we have now created a new caterpillar sub-sub-category of Snout Moth Caterpillars to house this posting. Since this caterpillar looked familiar to us, we suspect we may have an unidentified posting somewhere in our archive.
Wow – thanks so much! It’s interesting that such a beautiful caterpiller grows up to be a rather plain moth.
caterpillar ID
Location: Jemez Springs NM; Near Los Alamos New Mexico
September 3, 2011 5:53 pm
Hey, we found three caterpillars we haven’t seen before. 2 we found on our homeschool fieldtrip to the Jemez mountains NM, right by the hotsprings near Jemez Springs, 36 Miles west of Los Alamos. The green one is 3+ inches long and about 1/2 inch wide. It’s green with a ”spraypaintish looking”, reddish spot on top from head to tail.It has one yellow and black ”eye” on the rear end. White parallel streaks on the side.
We call the other one a ”snowflake caterpillar” because it’s spiky hair has a delicate snowflake like top. The two spikes in the front are a little bit higher then the rest. My kids say it stings.
The orange one is from our own frontyard in Taos NM. We never saw one like it before. It has a ”stinger” in the front, and two painted on eyes. It has white slashes on the side.
What are they???
Jenny, River (9), and Jordan (4)
ShineOnBeyond – homeschool
Signature: ShineOnBeyond Homeschool
Pre-pupal Achemon Sphinx Caterpillar
Dear Jenny, River, Jordan and the rest of the ShineOnBeyond Homeschool students,
Two of your caterpillars are the same species. The green caterpillar is a pre-pupal Achemon Sphinx Caterpillar. See this image on BugGuide for comparison. There are several different color variations on this species, and the pink blush at the top of the green caterpillar is, we believe, an indication that the caterpillar is preparing to pupate. Many species change color just prior to pupation. The orange caterpillar is an earlier instar or stage of the same species, the Achemon Sphinx. See this image on BugGuide for comparison. When the caterpillar molts between the fourth and fifth or final instar, the caudal horn is lost, leaving a caudal bump that resembles an eye.
Achemon Sphinx Caterpillar (third or fourth instar)
The remaining caterpillar is one of the Giant Silkmoths in the genus Automeris, and we believe it is the Zephyr Eyed Silkmoth, Automeris zephyria. We believe this is also an earlier instar, and most images online of the caterpillar of the Zephyr Eyed Silkmoth are of the fifth and final instar. This BugGuide image shows several caterpillars with the markings represented on your individual. We found a very close visual match on the members only World’s Largest Saturniidae website, but nonmembers cannot view the image.
Zephyr Eyed Silkmoth Caterpillar
Dear Bug guy,
Thanks so much – you have just made it to the top of our list of favorite resources. Keep up the amazing work, you rock!!!!
ShineOnBeyond
Beautiful Caterpillar
Location: North Carolina
September 3, 2011 11:03 am
I found this beautiful white caterpillar last night while looking for Monkey Slug Caterpillars. I looked around on the internet ,with no luck. I hope you can help our family ID. Thanks for the help with the Spun Glass caterpillar. My two sons liked seeing our photo on your great site.
Signature: Rick Thompson
Slug Moth Caterpillar
Hi Rick,
Other than to say that we are nearly certain that is is another Slug Moth Caterpillar in the family Limacodidae, we cannot provide anything definitive, but we have a wild theory. If you had only provide the front view, we would have most likely stated that this was another Spun Glass Caterpillar because the similarity is so striking, however, the lateral view is quite different. Our wild theory is based on another letter that was submitted and the theory that was developed: “Speculation over there is that, like you said, it’s not a spun glass slug caterpillar, but it may be just part of one. Maybe a bird got one and shook it at the tentacle floated down and still had some reflex action that made it appear alive.” Your lateral view appears to be a naked Spun Glass Caterpillar that has lost its appendages. Many Caterpillars change appearance just prior to pupation. Some change colors and others lose hairs. Our new theory is that perhaps this is a Spun Glass Caterpillar, Isochaetes beutenmuelleri, and that it is getting ready to metamorphose. The appendages might have begun falling off the caterpillar. That certainly lends credibility that the mystery object in that other letter was a shed Spun Glass Caterpillar tentacle or appendage. We welcome our readerships comments on this theory.
Perhaps a molting Spun Glass Caterpillar
Aqua/Black Caterpillar
Location: Walhalla, MI
August 25, 2011 11:40 am
I can’t seem to find this little guy on-line anywhere. He is about an inch long and was close to a tree with moss similar in color.
We were camping in Walhalla, MI. That is close to Ludington, MI. It was the 19th of August 2011. Any leads would be fantastic!
Signature: Edelynn
Stinging Slug Caterpillar
Hi Edelynn,
According to BugGuide, this is a Stinging Slug Caterpillar in the genus Euclea, and it might be a Spiny Oak Slug Caterpillar, Euclea delphinii, a species reported to be quite variable. Caterpillars in the family Limacodidae often have stinging spines and they should be handled with caution.
