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yellow caterpillar?
October 16, 2009
Found in a garden in Florence Italy during October of 2009. What is it? Is it bad for plants?
A. Livingston
Florence, Italy
Death's Head Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Dear A. Livingston,
This is the caterpillar of a Death’s Head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos, and other than eating some leaves, it is not harmful to the plant it is feeding upon. You may find additional information on the Sphingidae of the Palaearctic website.
What is this?
October 16, 2009
We found this on a dwarf orange tree in our yard today (October 16, 2009) and would like to know what it is. It had apparently eaten half a leaf in the morning. In the evening it was on another leaf, which it had begun to consume. It move it’s head vertically when I first moved my hand toward the leaf upon which it perched. We would love to know what it is. Thank you!
Dr. TJ
San Diego, CA
Orange Dog
Dear Dr. TJ,
This is an Orange Dog, the caterpillar of the spectacular Giant Swallowtail. We gladly sacrifice a few leaves on our citrus trees to be able to enjoy this beautiful butterfly in our garden. The resemblance of the Orange Dog to bird droppings is a camouflage mimicry device.
Damselfly or not?
October 13, 2009
I found this bug at my grandma’s house. At first I thought he was a dragonfly. He’s brown and has multiple wings. My mom thinks he is a damselfly. Can you help us? also, I am sending 2 pictures of a garden spider and Hickory Horned Devil.
Thanks!
Scarlett
McAlpin, Florida
Hickory Horned Devil
Hi Scarlett,
We already wrote back to you to tell you that the damselfly is actually an Antlion. In trying to select letters for posting today, we would much rather post your photo of the Hickory Horned Devil since we did not receive as many nice photos of this spectacular caterpillar as we have in past years.
Pictures of orange Imperial Moth caterpillar
October 11, 2009
Found it crawling across my office’s parking lot during midday, 9/29/09, so it must have been looking for a spot to burrow into for pupating.
The office has many types of trees, including conifers.
Thanks to your awesome site, I was able to identify it and learn more about it.
Please feel free to use these pictures. I think they’re pretty good! There are 4 pictures I wanted to give to you, so I’ll send another message after this one with the 4th pic.
Be sure to check out the drool at the bottom of its mouth in the facial closeup! 
Thy Nguyen Cavagnaro – Barnegat, NJ
Jamesburg, NJ
Imperial Moth Caterpillar
Dear Thy,
Thanks for sending us your gorgeous images of an orange Imperial Moth Caterpillar. There are several different color variations for the Imperial Moth Caterpillar, including green, blue-green, and brown, and the caterpillar often changes color just prior to pupation. This bright orange variation is not one of the variations we see most often and it is a lovely addition to our archives.
Imperial Moth Caterpillar
Crawling green bug with yellow things growing on it
October 10, 2009
Photo taken 9/28/09 in the afternoon. He/she was crawling across the paved part of the Baldwin Rails to Trails from one side to the other.
Florida
Jacksonville, FL
Imperial Moth Caterpillar
Hi Florida,
This is an Imperial Moth Caterpillar.
Cocoons on my Mesquite tree
October 10, 2009
South of Tucson, Arizona. I have these cocoons all over one of my mesquite trees.
Pam
Rio Rico, Arizona
Bagworms
Hi Pam,
This is a species of Bagworm. Bagworms are caterpillars of moths in the family Psychidae. They are unusual in that the female never leaves her bag. The bag is formed from silk and plant material by a growing larva that eventually pupates inside its bag. Adult males have wings but females are wingless. The female emits pheromones and attracts a mate to her bag. Her eggs are also laid in the bag. BugGuide contains some wonderful information.
Bagworms
What type if catepillars
October 5, 2009
Found eating Oleander near Hilton Head South Carolina
Walt Jankowski
Hilton Head SC
Oleander Caterpillar and Milkweed Assassin Bug
Hi Walt,
The caterpillar in your photo is known as the Oleander Caterpillar, and it is the larva of the Polka Dot Wasp Moth, Syntomeida epilais. Below the caterpillar is an immature Milkweed Assassin Bug, a predator that often feeds on caterpillars. We are uncertain if it will prey upon the Oleander Caterpillar. The caterpillar stores toxins from the oleander in its body which renders it unpalatable to many predators.
Catapillar or worm?
October 4, 2009
This was found in southern Wisconsin on a grape vine. It is soft to the touch, even though the spotted outside looks like a “shell” When it stretches, it extends out of the “shell” Very different from anything we have ever seen before
Cora Purdue
Southern Wisconsin
Pandora Sphinx Caterpillar
Hi Cora,
Your caterpillar is a Pandora Sphinx Caterpillar, Eumorpha pandorus, and it is commonly found on grape vines. There are also green and brown color variations of the caterpillar.
Unknown Caterpillar
October 4, 2009
Hello bugman,
when cutting our Chamaedorea elegans, my husband felt a burning sensation to his arm. Obviously he touched two of this caterpillars, sitting on a leaf.
I searched your database, but couldn’t find a similar picture. Looks like a stinging slug caterpillar for me.
Thanks for your help,
Best regard
Claudia
Singapore
Unknown Stinging Caterpillar
Hi Claudia,
We are not certain that this is a Stinging Slug Caterpillar. It looks more to us like one of the Stinging Caterpillars in the subfamily Hemileucinae of the Giant Silkworm Family Saturniidae. We will try to get a second opinion.
I’ve seen these brown leaves on Sideroxylon salicifolium and wonder what could be causing it.
October 1, 2009
Hello dear bug people. I keep seeing webbing and dead leaf clusters on Willow Bustic and wonder if the attached bugs/larvae that I saw today are the cause.
Fall Webworm Leaf Damage
Would you know what they are by these not so great pictures?
Thank you so much, Susan
North Key Largo, Florida
Giant Katydid Hatchlings
Dear Susan,
WE are really puzzled by these hatching insects, but the webbing they are constructing does appear to be on the brown clusters of leaves. We are calling in the big guns and are requesting assistance from Eric Eaton.
Giant Katydids hatching in Webworm Nest
Update from Eric Eaton
October 3, 2009
Daniel:
I’m at a friend’s computer right now, but my quick answer is that those are most likely katydid nymphs hatching from eggs. Probably giant katydids (Stilpnochlora couloniana). They would not be the cause of the leaf damage, and certainly not the cause of the webbing, which may be a product of the Fall Webworm or a related caterpillar.
Hope this helps.
Eric
Red caterpillar
September 30, 2009
Hi Bugman!
I found this in my field in north central Ohio this afternoon on a weed (goldenrod I think). It was a chilly day and it wasn’t moving at all. I’ve looked through my insect guides and on the web to try to identify it, but no luck. Do you know what it is?
Kirsten
Mt. Gilead Ohio
The Asteroid
Hi Kirsten,
WE just love it when caterpillars have poetically descriptive common names, like the Monkey Slug, the Hickory Horned Devil, or the Orange Dog. Your caterpillar is a first for us. We thought it resembled the Brown Hooded Owlet Moth Caterpillar, so we searched the genus Cucullia on BugGuide. We quickly located The Asteroid, Cucullia asteroides, more commonly called the Goldenrod Hooded Owlet. The caterpillars are highly variable, and there are no images posted to BugGuide that exactly match your specimen, but the coloration is represented in several images from New Hampshire. The caterpillars are described on BugGuide as: “Caterpillar: ‘Usually bright green or brown with yellow, black and white striping, but exceedingly variable…mid-dorsal stripe yellow, often narrowly edged with white, occasionally flanked by variously developed black subdorsal stripe. If subdorsal is absent, then five or six black pinstripes above level of spiracles.’ – Wagner p. 388(1) Base color may also be tan, or purple and brown, especially in later instars.” Your lovely red specimen lacks the dorsal stripe, and has that awesome yellow racing stripe up the side. BugGuide also indicates: “There has been significant discussion whether all these are the same species of Cucullia or not. Seems as though there may be several species that look very similar as larvae. See Also Cucullia postera, C.omissa, C. florea are likely to have similar caterpillars, according to Wagner.”
Thank you so much for taking the time to identify my caterpillar. When I took the picture I thought it was so distinctive that it would be easy to identify. Ha! I’ve spent a lot of time on your site in the past few days and it’s awesome! Thanks again!
Caterpillar (red, black, white, yellow)
September 28, 2009
Can you please identify this caterpillar? It was photographed near Lake Tizlit in the High Atlas Mountains of central Morocco. The nearest village is Imilchil where my daughter works as a Peace Corps volunteer. This is in “her” national park. The photo was made in later June in semi-arid conditions. It is perhaps 10 cm long.
Tom Fuller
Morocco
Barbary Spurge Hawkmoth Caterpillar
Hi Tom,
This caterpillar reminded us of the caterpillars of the Sphinx Moths in the genus Hyles, so we searched Hyles and Morocco, and quickly arrived at a page for the Barbary Spurge Hawkmoth, Hyles tithymali mauretanica. Your caterpillar looks very similar to the ones pictured in the photo on that page, but with slight color differences. The website also has this note: “(Taxonomic note. de Freina (1994) placed mauretanica as a subspecies of H. euphorbiae on the basis of minor morphological and behavioural differences, overlooking the many more characteristics that mauretanica has in common with tithymali.)” Upon following the link to Hyles euphorbiae, the Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth, the new page has photos of numerous color variations of the larvae which are called polymorphic.
Hi Daniel,
I am dazzled by your speed and research. From the description of the habitat (desert/steppe) and range (Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco), this much be the one. I note (as you did) the slight variation in coloring (red line for yellow line, etc.) but it must be a cousin. Thanks much for offering such a service online. I posted the picture on Flickr and gave you credit for the identification:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomfuller2001/
Tom
