can you identify ?
About 3 inches found in my backyard. Reddish brown thick. Six horns in front and one at end.Thank you P.S I looked everywhere online and couldn’t find it. We live in North Carolina
We are guessing that this Hickory Horned Devil is brown instead of the usual blue-green color because it is ready for pupation.
Correction (09/02/2007) Misidentification
Hey there,
I was cruising your site and noticed that you had misidentified a prepupal caterpillar posted on 9/1/07. You identified it as C.regalis that was brown because it was ready to pupate. C. regalis turn an aqua color when prepupal, but there is another Citheronia species in the area, C. sepulcralis . This the prepupal larva of the Pine Devil Moth. Its coloration and markings, or lack thereof, are right and the species becomes increasingly more common towards the south-east where they can have 2 or more broods per year. I hope that this info helps anyone else that might come across a Pine Devil on one of their pine trees or in search of a suitable pupation site that might consider it a Hickory Horned Devil. Cheers,
Josh
Imperial Moth Caterpillar
Hello, Bugman,
We were called to retrieve this charming fellow from someone’s yard. I had never seen an imperial moth caterpillar in real life before (I believe we’re at the very edge of the range), and was shocked at how enormous it was. My mother isn’t a fan of bugs, and refers to the critter as “the crawling turd,” and is fascinated by its “Predator-like butt. I’ve placed the caterpillar in a container (12×6x12″) with a bunch of loose dirt. At the moment, it’s just wandering around, but I’m hoping it will burrow down and pupate soon. I guess I’ll have to wait a few months to get picture of the adult, barring infestation by tachinid maggots. Regards!
Emily
Hi Emily,
Thank you for sending your photo of the Imperial Moth Caterpillar acompanied by you mother’s colorful description.
caterpillar that stings
I found this bug on my blueberry bushes and it stung me. I thought it was stinging nettles but on closer look found this bug. What’s that bug?
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
This is a Saddleback Caterpillar and yes, it does sting.
Hi
I hope you can help me…I found this caterpillar on my back porch in Prescott AZ. I am about a mile in altitude in the “high desert west”. I think it fell from some trees with that green material in the picture. I can’t figure out what it is. I am guessing it would sting me. Thank You,
Craig
Hi Craig,
This is some species of caterpillar in the genus Automeris. These are giant silkmoths. There are several possible species in Arizona, but none seem to match exactly. They include Randa’s eyed silkmoth or Automeris randa, and Cecrops eyed silkmoth or Automeris cecrops. A nearly identical image is posted to BugGuide with the possible identification being Automeris boudinotiana. Moths in the genus Automeris are known as the Eyed Silkmoths and some species have very localized populations. Automeris caterpillars do have stinging spines.
Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) developmental series
Hi Lisa Anne and Daniel,
Glad to see that you are keeping up your great work with your website. Last year I submitted some picture series about the development of butterflies. This year I would like to share my Giant Swallowtail shots with you.
I found 6 caterpillars on Prickley Ash during the summer in Wisconsin, and breeding this species is a wonderful experience. My girlfriend Megan will be delighted to see “her” caterpillar on your page, which she got as a present from me to encourage her slightly increasing interested in bugs. Keep up the great job! Best wishes from Madison/Wisconsin,
Thomas Werner
Hi Thomas,
Thanks for sending us your wonderful Giant Swallowtail metamorphosis images.
Peculiar Hairy Orange Caterpillar Found in Belgium
Hello dear bugsir,
Recently, my parents witnessed a peculiar orange caterpillar falling from out of the tree in our garden, right here in Kapellen, province of Antwerp, in Belgium, and they took some pictures of it. I would like to apologize for the bad, blurry, unclear quality of 3 of those pictures, since my parents aren’t professional photographers (they aren’t even amateurs …). The only clear one is the last one (and it almost can be used as a decent wallpaper!). I was very intrigued when i looked at those pictures, because here in Belgium, our insects dont look that colourful, or exotic. It does seem very out of place here. I’ve tried searching some sites (i even looked at all of the caterpillar pictures on your site) but no info came up about this species. I really want to know what type of caterpillar it is, and if those hairs are venomous or not, because i have a little phobia of caterpillars. So if i walk under under tree and this beast falls in my neck, i really want to know its name and what effect those hairs give, before i start to run off and scream like a girl. Regards,
Bart from Belgium
Hi Bart from Belgium,
We did identify this species of Punk Rock Caterpillar in August 2006. It is on our caterpillar 6 page. It is a Sycamore Moth Caterpillar, Acronicta aceris. Sadly, the link to the UK website where we originally identified it is no longer active.
a little caterpillar with a traveling cocoon
Hi,
I’m hoping you can identify this little fellow. He’s been hanging around (literally) ,and under my blue ceramic bird bath. At first I thought he was building a cocoon, but he keeps crawling all over the place with it . Let me know, please, if you can identify him. His cocoon seems to be about 3″ long. I live in Parma, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Thank you.
Mary Griffin
Hi Mary,
This caterpillar is a Bagworm. Bagworms are Moths in the family Psychidae. According to BugGuide: “Larvae (bagworms) construct spindle-shaped bags covered with pieces of twigs, leaves, etc., and remain in them, enlarging them as they grow, till they pupate (also in the bag). Adult females remain in the bag, emitting pheromones which attract adult males to mate with them.”
a little caterpillar with a traveling cocoon
Hi,
I’m hoping you can identify this little fellow. He’s been hanging around (literally) ,and under my blue ceramic bird bath. At first I thought he was building a cocoon, but he keeps crawling all over the place with it . Let me know, please, if you can identify him. His cocoon seems to be about 3" long. I live in Parma, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Thank you.
Mary Griffin
Hi Mary,
This caterpillar is a Bagworm. Bagworms are Moths in the family Psychidae. According to BugGuide: “Larvae (bagworms) construct spindle-shaped bags covered with pieces of twigs, leaves, etc., and remain in them, enlarging them as they grow, till they pupate (also in the bag). Adult females remain in the bag, emitting pheromones which attract adult males to mate with them.”
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Posted 28 August 2007
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Bagworm
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Huge, Crazy Looking Caterpillar
Hi there,
Perhaps you can help. My son and I found this on Sunday, August 26, at a park in Irwin, Pennsyvlania. We almost stepped on this thing. We look for bugs all the time and have never seen anything like this. We did not keep it nor touch it. Do you know what it is? Sincerely,
Amy Vandermer and Mason (age 7)
Hickory Horned Devil
Ed. Note: Since we don’t have the time to post every submission that is sent our way, we sometimes just make a quick reply (see above). In this case, posting two additional images of Hickory Horned Devils in the past 24 hours prompted our decision not to post this letter. Then we got the following response, which is so endearing, that we rescued the original letter and photograph from the trash.
Thanks so much! Your Site is Awesome!
Thanks so much. We actually spent the rest of the evening on your website and found what the answer was. My son was so excited about your site after baseball all he wanted to do was look at bugs and drawn his own pictures. You might be happy to know that a 7 year old, second grader actually said . . . . . . “this is so much better than playing Playstation!” . . . his last words before bed were “after school tomorrow I’m coming straight home to identify more bugs!” You guys are awesome!
Amy
crazy!
While taking care of my flowers in my landscaping, I spotted a creature about 1 inch from my hand-scared me to death because I thought it was a snake. I realized it was only about 3-4 inches long. It also has this thorn thing sticking out of the lower end of its body. The next day, I saw another weird creature in my landscaping and grabbed my camera. I did not think that it was the same type of creature because the first had a head just like a snake but this creature has a long snout. After watching it and taking several pictures, I pushed it along with a wire piece and it decreased in size and then looked just like the creature I thought was a snake. What is this thing??? OK, I found it….I feel very silly, but the first one I saw was brown. I am sending my pictures anyways……
Monica Lain
Hi Monica,
Many caterpillars, your Tersa Sphinx Caterpillar included, have markings that resemble eyes. This is a protection against birds and other predators who might be startled by a “snake”.
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