rss Caterpillar
Location: Western PA
September 12, 2011 6:57 am
We found this beautiful bug. Can you tell us what it is?
Signature: Amy Guthridge
Cecropia Moth Caterpillar
Hi Amy,
This is the caterpillar of a Cecropia Moth, and judging by its size, the season and the silk it is spinning, it may be getting ready to form a cocoon. Cecropia Moths are the largest North American Silkmoths.
Large Caterpillar
Location: Warren County, New Jersey
September 11, 2011 12:03 pm
On September 11, 2011, after many inches of rain, we saw this rather large caterpillar crossing the street near our house in Warren County, New Jersey. It was 3.25 inches long and about 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide. I’ve never seen anything this large but I’m wondering if you could identify it for us? What will it turn into?
Signature: Curious in NJ
Imperial Moth Caterpillar
Dear Curious in NJ,
This Imperial Moth Caterpillar will bury itself to pupate and it will emerge as an adult Imperial Moth next year.
Beautiful little furball caterpillar, but what is it?
Location: Campbellton, N.B. Canada
September 9, 2011 4:01 pm
Admittedly I am scared of many insects but yet at the same time strangely compelled by their beauty. But I love this website and your dedication is amazing. This guy was found in northern New Brunswick, Canada the beginning of September. He almost looks like a bumble bee but we were curious what he is & what he might turn out to be. Here’s hoping you can help us out because I didn’t see anything on the first half of the pages. There’s also another one of something I saw hopping along the ground on what looked like a tail, he has a body that looks like a skinny slug,and he was found in Halifax, NS, Canada. First time seeing something like that, so got curious about that too.
Signature: Fraidy cat bug admirer
Spotted Tussock Moth Caterpillar
Dear Fraidy cat bug admirer,
This Tiger Moth Caterpillar is known as the Spotted Tussock Moth Caterpillar, Lophocampa maculata, and it is found in many parts of North America. According to BugGuide, the Spotted Tussock Moth Caterpillar feed on the : “ leaves of poplar and willow, but also feed on alder, basswood, birch, maple, oak.” Your other insect is a harmless Crane Fly.
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.
I like This