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Io Moth Caterpillar

caterpillar
Location: garden
February 21, 2011 3:19 pm
Found this 2” caterpillar on the holly bush. Gorgeous green color!
Signature: patricia

io cat patricia 300x208 Io Moth Caterpillar

Io Moth Caterpillar

Hi Patricia,
This is an Io Moth Caterpillar.  Handle it carefully as the spines are capable of stinging.  In our submission form, the location field should be used to indicate the state or country where the sighting occurred.

Thank you for the identification and warning about the io moth. What a beautiful, emerald green!   I am in Palm Bay, FL

Posted 21 February 2011 § Silkworms ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Stinging Caterpillar from Australia: Chinese Junk

Angry litte catapillar
Location: Nth Queensland Australia
February 21, 2011 5:06 am
Gday mate,
was out in the garden and brushed past a tree that this guy was living in. It took about 5 seconds before I felt like I was being branded with a hot iron ( or a million wasps – not sure)
anyway was real curious to find out what kind it was?
Signature: Doug from Downunder

chinese junk caterpillar australia doug 300x212 Stinging Caterpillar from Australia: Chinese Junk

Chinese Junk

Gday Doug,
You had an unfortunate encounter with a Stinging Slug Caterpillar in the family Limacodidae.  In Australia, the family is known as the Cup Moth family and the caterpillars, many of which can sting, are called Spitfires according to the Brisbane Insect website.  Your particular caterpillar is the Mottled Cup Moth, Doratifera vulnerans, and the caterpillar, according to the Brisbane Insect Website, is called a Chinese Junk:  “because of their shape and their way of moving like ship at sea.”

3

Posted 21 February 2011 § Stinging Slug Caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Gulf Frit Cat, Silver Version?
Location: Orlando, Florida
February 20, 2011 7:25 pm
Hi Bugman. I was so excited and puzzled by my first caterpillar sighting since winter began. It looks like a gulf fritillary caterpillar but every one I’ve ever seen has been orange with black markings. This one is silver/gray with light orange stripes. It can’t be any other type of fritillary, can it? It was munching away on my passiflora incarnata. This one is a real beauty.
Signature: Elizabeth

gulf fritillary cat elizabeth 300x189 Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Dear Elizabeth,
Your identification is correct. This is a Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar.  According to BugGuide:  “Larvae are generally orange with black branched spines and greenish-black stripes. There is a larval variant with purple/lavender stripes, seen mostly in Texas.” and here is an example of that color variation from Arizona that is posted to BugGuide.

Posted 21 February 2011 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Citrus Swallowtail Caterpillar Metamorphosis in South Africa

Caterpillar identification

swallowtail prepupa south africa galye+2 229x300 Citrus Swallowtail Caterpillar Metamorphosis in South Africa

Citrus Swallowtail Caterpillar prepares to Pupate

Caterpillar identification
Location: Still Bay, Western Cape, South Africa
February 19, 2011 10:13 am
Hi. I have a caterpillar that has decided to attach itself to our carport. Would love to know what species it is and how long we need to watch till it emerges again.
Signature: Galye

swallowtail prepupa south africa galye 178x300 Citrus Swallowtail Caterpillar Metamorphosis in South Africa

Citrus Swallowtail Caterpillar prepares to pupate

Dear Galye,
This is the caterpillar of a Swallowtail Butterfly in the family Papilionidae.  We believe it is the caterpillar of a Citrus Swallowtail, Papilio demodocus.  You can compare you individual to this image on FlickR or this image on WebShots.  We hare happy you sent us images of both the pre-pupa and the Chrysalis.  The Chrysalis of most Swallowtail Butterflies is unique in that it is supported in an upright position by a girdle of silk.

swallowtail chrysalis south africa galye 192x300 Citrus Swallowtail Caterpillar Metamorphosis in South Africa

Citrus Swallowtail Chrysalis

Keith Wolfe provides some information
Hi Galye,
Yes, if healthy, your chrysalis will metamorphose into a Citrus Swallowtail — aka Christmas Butterfly, because adults are often commonest in December, and Orange Dog, because its caterpillars can be pests of young orange trees and related plants — in about 10 days.  BTW, here is a better image for you to compare (the above Flickr link shows an unusually marked individual, while the Webshots photo is misidentified): http://photocamel.com/gallery/data/1138/Papilio_demodocus_final_instar_Gillitts_14_Mar_09.jpg.
Best wishes,
Keith

Update from Galye
February 28, 2011
Thank you so much for your quick reply. Loved the photo links you sent. Unfortunately we missed the butterfly coming out of the pupa stage. Have some photo’s of the pupa casing that was left. Would love it if you could send me a link for some photos that show the butterfly emerging.

citrus swallowtail chrysalis exuvia south africa galye 205x300 Citrus Swallowtail Caterpillar Metamorphosis in South Africa

Citrus Swallowtail Chrysalis Exuvia

Hi Galye,
Thanks for the update and new photo, and we are sorry you missed the actual transformation process.  Alas, we were unable to quickly locate an image of a Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, but we did get documentation of a newly emerged individual in 2007. We also located this image of a Giant Swallowtail emerging from the Chrysalis on the Science Photo Library website.

Posted 19 February 2011 § swallowtail caterpillars ‡ Comments (1) °

Unknown Blue Caterpillar from Tanzania might be a Stinging Slug Caterpillar

unidentified caterpillar
Location: Geita Villiage, Mwanza, Tanzania
February 17, 2011 3:07 am
Hi, my daughter spotted this brightly coloured fellow on our garden path we thought it was litter because of the colour. Its the end of the rainy season in Geita, Mwanza which is in north western Tanzania. He did not move very much although produced large quantities of black gunk when we picked him up and he was only about 3cm long. We have seen a most beautiful large butterfly in the garden with this unusual colouring, is it related?
Signature: Sandra Wronsley

blue caterpillar tanzania sandra 300x221 Unknown Blue Caterpillar from Tanzania might be a Stinging Slug Caterpillar

Unknown Blue Caterpillar

Dear Sandra,
At first glance we thought this might be a Giant Silk Moth Caterpillar in the family Saturniidae, but your statement that is is only 3 centimeters long caused us to second guess that idea.  Our second guess was that this might be a Stinging Slug Caterpillar in the family Limacodidae so we wrote to Bill Oehlke who runs the World’s Greatest Saturniidae Site to get his opinion.  Bill wrote back:  “Daniel, I agree with your assessments, but we could be wrong.“  We are going to post your caterpillar and tag it as unidentified in the hope that someone may be able to provide additional information.  We strongly doubt that this blue caterpillar will metamorphose into the large butterfly you sighted, but that is pure conjecture since there is no photo of the butterfly and the caterpillar is unidentified, though we do believe it is probably a Moth Caterpillar.

Posted 17 February 2011 § ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Lappet Moth from Thailand

Yellow moth
Location: Sri Racha, Chonburi, Thailand
February 12, 2011 10:28 pm
I recently collected some large, hairy yellow striped caterpillars for my grade 3 Science class. One of them has just emerged from its cocoon as a yellow moth about 3 centimeters in length. When I googled ”yellow moth”none of the images showed a moth quite like this one.
Signature: Alan Walmsley

lappet cat thailand1 268x300 Lappet Moth from Thailand

Possibly Lappet Moth Caterpillar

Hi Alan,
Both your caterpillar and the adult moth remind us of the North American Lappet Moths in the family Lasiocampidae, and even more specifically, those in the genus Phyllodesma.  Here is a comparison photo of a North American caterpillar from BugGuide, and here is an adult moth also from BugGuide.  Though the coloration is quite different, the manner in which the moth holds its underwings in relation to the upper wings is strikingly similar.  Again, this is just a guess, and we hope to be able to provide you with additional information on our own as well as through reader contributions.

lappet moth thailand alan1 268x300 Lappet Moth from Thailand

Lappet Moth

We immediately tried a search of the family in Thailand and found a Moths of Borneo website, and on Plate 6, and there is an image of a mounted specimen identified as a female Trabala ganesha that looks remarkably like your moth.  Here is a photo from the Foto Biodiversitas Indonesia website and an even better match are these images of Trabala vishnou from Thailand on this Taxonomy website: http://193.166.3.2/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/bombycoidea/lasiocampidae/trabala/index.html.

lappet moth thailand alan 21 300x194 Lappet Moth from Thailand

Lappet Moth

Posted 13 February 2011 § Lappet Moths § Tent Caterpillars and Kin ‡ Comments (0) °

Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar

ID of caterpillar
Location: Hawi, North Kohala, Hawaii Island
February 11, 2011 3:10 am
Can you help ID this caterpillar
Signature: Hawi

oleander hawkmoth cat hawi 300x157 Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar

Dear Hawi,
This is an Oleander Hawkmoth Caterpillar, a species introduced to Hawaii that has naturalized because of the cultivation of its food plant, the oleander.

Posted 11 February 2011 § Hornworms ‡ Comments (0) °

Hickory Horned Devil found in Bed!!!!

Horny Caterpillar?
Location: Ohio
February 10, 2011 8:13 am
This bug was found inside the house, under the bed covers! Friends are laughingly calling it the ”horny caterpillar” … can you enlighten us please?
Signature: photogirl800mm

hickory horned devil ohio 300x205 Hickory Horned Devil found in Bed!!!!

Hickory Horned Devil

Hi photogirl800mm,
Awesome.  This is a Hickory Horned Devil, the larva of the Royal Walnut Moth, and it is the largest Caterpillar in North America.  Your letter did not indicate if this was a recent discovery (which we doubt) or if it was found in bed last autumn.  We did not get as many submissions of Hickory Horned Devils this past season as we have in years past.

7

Posted 10 February 2011 § Hickory Horned Devil ‡ Comments (0) °

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