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Possibly Obscure Sphinx Caterpillar:

Giant caterpillar in southwest Florida
Location: Corkscrew Swamp in Southwest Florida
December 30, 2010 2:50 pm
Hey…
I found this caterpillar in Corkscrew swamp near Naples, FL. It was late November and the caterpillar was in a tree about ten feet off the ground. It was about 5 to 6 inches long. I thought it was a branch but then it started moving. Im not sure what type of tree was feeding in. Is this some type of giant sphinx caterpillar? I’ve looked all over for his ID but cant find anything. This is probably the largest caterpillar I have ever seen.
(PS i got your book for Christmas and love it!)
Signature: Sammy

cat stephen 300x227 Possibly Obscure Sphinx Caterpillar:

Possibly Obscure Sphinx Caterpillar

Hi Sammy,
It is difficult to be certain, but we suspect this may be an Obscure Sphinx Caterpillar, Erinnyis obscura, based on a photo posted to the Sphingidae of the Americas website.  Knowing the food plant is often a big help in caterpillar identification.  We will try to check with Bill Oehlke to see if he agrees with our tentative identification.

cat stephen 2 300x194 Possibly Obscure Sphinx Caterpillar:

Possibly Obscure Sphinx Caterpillar

Posted 30 December 2010 § Hornworms ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Crab Spider eats Monarch Caterpillar in Canadian Milkweed Patch

Life (and death) in a milkweed patch
December 28, 2010
Location:  Manitoba Birds Hill Provincial Park, Canada
Hi Daniel:
Every July tens of thousands of people descend on Manitoba’s Birds Hill Provincial Park for one of Canada’s, and North America’s, oldest and largest folk festivals (we haven’t missed it for more than 30 years!). In 2006 I discovered the most impressive milkweed patch I have ever seen, wedged between a parking lot and an oak forest, and was thrilled with the abundant and diverse bug life I found there. To my dismay, however, I then watched the patch get systematically destroyed over the next few days as festival goers heedlessly drove and parked all over the patch in an effort to get closer to the shade provided by the adjacent trees. This is generally a ‘green’ crowd so I think it happened more out of ignorance than callousness, but the result was the same. When the same thing happened in 2007 I decided something needed to be done. So I contacted both park and festival staff to plead my case for the protection of this incredible island of diversity, particularly since it is located in the middle of a provincial park.

milkweed patch karl 300x206 Crab Spider eats Monarch Caterpillar in Canadian Milkweed Patch

Milkweed Patch Saved

When we arrived for the 2008 festival I went straight to the patch and was delighted to see the whole area cordoned off, as it has been every year since. Unfortunately, 2008 was one of our coldest wettest summers in recent memory and the milkweeds were barely knee-high and not flowering. The next year was almost as bad, but in 2010 our glorious summer weather returned and the milkweeds were nearly chest high and flowering profusely – and the bug watching was spectacular! The attached photo of what I believe is a Xysticus punctatus Crab Spider finishing off a hapless Monarch caterpillar is one of my favourites from 2010. The other two photos show the milkweed patch after the 2007 festival, and protected in 2010. If you or any of your readers are interested, I have uploaded a collection of photos taken at this location since 2006 (with more to follow next year, I am sure). I am still working on some of the identifications and I am not certain about some of the ones I have inserted, so any comments or suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated. Regards.  Karl

xysticus punctatus monarch cat karl 2010 300x206 Crab Spider eats Monarch Caterpillar in Canadian Milkweed Patch

Crab Spider eats Monarch Caterpillar

Hi Karl,
We love hearing how your conservation activism made a difference.  You did not attach any images, so we took the liberty of lifting a few from your web posting.  We might be interested in posting a few more butterflies and dragonflies if you give permission.  We especially love the Milkweed Meadow as an important and diverse ecosystem, and we recently created a unique tag for postings related to Milkweed.

xysticus punctatus monarch cat karl 2010 2 300x206 Crab Spider eats Monarch Caterpillar in Canadian Milkweed Patch

Crab Spider eats Monarch Caterpillar

Thanks for bailing me out Daniel; I forget my attachments all the time. These were the files I was going to send but I am also fine with what you put up (although I suppose they don’t quite match the text).  Go ahead and borrow anything you like, or let me know if you have anything specific in mind. I have thousands of photos that I have been meaning to organize and perhaps upload, but I just haven’t been able to find the time. Perhaps next year.  Have a great new year! K

milkweed patch 2007 karl 300x222 Crab Spider eats Monarch Caterpillar in Canadian Milkweed Patch

Destroyed Milkweed Patch in 2007

Thanks for sending additional images Karl.  We have posted the 2007 image with the mutilated Milkweed Patch to accompany the original posting.  We will let you know if we post any of your other wonderful images.

Posted 28 December 2010 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars § Crab Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Caterpillar that screams don’t eat me!
Location: Venice, CA 90291
December 27, 2010 5:04 pm
Dear WhatsThatBug,
I saw this bold caterpillar walking west toward the beach in sunny Venice Beach, California. The caterpillar was fairly large, about half a pinkey length and the first think I noticed about it was its beautiful red/blue stripes along its back and its fierce black spikes. Any idea what type of caterpillar this Venice Beach visitor/local might be? Hope you enjoy the photo and happy holidays!
Signature: Venice Todd

gulf fritillary cat todd 300x192 Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Hi Todd,
This is a Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar, the immature stage of one of the most common butterflies in Southern California.  The Caterpillar of the Gulf Fritillary feeds exclusively on the leaves of the passionflower vine, a common introduced plant, and the introduction of the plant in areas with warmer climates is responsible for the range expansion of the butterfly.  It is our understanding that both the butterfly and food plant are native to Mexico, Central America and South America, but the religious symbolism of the flower has led to its cultivation in warmer areas of the United States, and that cultivation has allowed the pretty orange butterfly to also expand its range.  Since this individual caterpillar was not found on the plant, it is a likely bet that it is about to metamorphose into a chrysalis.  When the caterpillars are mature, an oxymoron since the caterpillar is actually the immature stage of the mature butterfly, it leaves its food plant and searches for an appropriate site to transform into a stationary chrysalis.

4

Posted 28 December 2010 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Case Bearing Moth Larva

Help identifying a bug please
Location: Seattle WA
December 26, 2010 9:48 pm
Hi bugman,
I found these bugs underneath our bed while we were cleaning the house. They look like worms and they move by extending something from one end of their body and pulling themselves forward. Do you know what they are? My wife is freaking about this discovery.
Signature: Aaron

casebearing moth larva aaron 300x206 Case Bearing Moth Larva

Case Bearing Moth Larva

Dear Aaron,
This is a Case Bearing Moth Larva in the subfamily Tineinae, and we believe it is a Casemaking Clothes Moth, Tinea pellionella.  According to BugGuide, they:  “Feed on wool, feathers, fur, hair, upholstered furniture, leather, fish meals, milk powders, lint, dust or paper.“ Judging by the quantity of pet hair in your photo, they have an ample food supply.  Vacuuming under the bed more regularly to control pet hair should reduce the number of Case Bearing Moth Larvae you find in your home.

Thank you for the quick response Daniel, you’re awesome! icon smile Case Bearing Moth Larva I’ll be making a donation to your website!
-Aaron K.

Posted 27 December 2010 § Clothes Moth Caterpillar § Pantry Moths, Clothes Moths, Case-Bearers and Meal Moths ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Yellow Shouldered Slug Moth Caterpillar parasitized by Braconid

Green Round Bug
Location: knob noster missouri
December 21, 2010 3:43 pm
This bug was found on a oak leaf in Knob Noster MO in Aug. It had parasitic wasp eggs laid on its back. I think it may be a species of the tomato hornworm. The color is similar but it’s shaped different. It’s almost oval but, flat on the bottom. One end of it had a little bit of a caterpillar body that would come in and out. It was stuck to the leaf. when I got it off and looked at the under belly it had many legs. almost centipede like.
Signature: I’m just interested in the bug. Whatever is easier

slug cat braconids 300x227 Yellow Shouldered Slug Moth Caterpillar parasitized by Braconid

Slug Moth Caterpillar parasitized by Braconid

Your caterpillar is most likely a Yellow Shouldered Slug Moth Caterpillar, Lithacodes fasciola, and we agree that the parasites are Braconids.  We found a photo on BugGuide of a similar parasite/host relationship.

Posted 21 December 2010 § Parasitic Hymenopterans § Stinging Slug Caterpillars ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Pink Caterpillar from Peru: Stinging relative of the Io Moth

Pink Caterpillar in Iquitos, Peru
Location: an hour outside Iquitos, Peru
December 20, 2010 3:15 pm
Hello! I just returned from the Amazon jungle where I saw stunningly beautiful butterflies and wonderfully huge spiders. This is the only fellow I could not identify.
Perhaps you could take a crack at what this guy is going to turn into?
Signature: Regards, Sarah

pink caterpillar peru sarah 300x292 Pink Caterpillar from Peru: Stinging relative of the Io Moth

Dirphia avia Caterpillar from Peru

Hi Sarah,
We cannot tell you the name of the incredible looking caterpillar without doing extensive research.  We are going out on a limb and guessing that it is a Saturniid, and that it may be closely related to the North American Io Moth.  If that is the case, then we suspect this fierce looking South American Moth larva might also be a stinging species.  The sting from the Io Moth Caterpillar is reported to be extremely painful.  We will return later to commence the research.

Update
We found a pink spiked caterpillar, Automeris hamata, on the World’s Largest Saturniidae site.  Then we found a photo of Automeris hamata on Blass.com, but it isn’t the pink color of yours.  We will contact Bill Oehlke to see if he can identify this awesome caterpillar

Update with Identification from Karl
December 21, 2010
Hi Daniel and Sarah:
It looks like Dirphia avia (Saturniidae: Hemileucinae), a genus that is closely related to Automeris.   White seems to be the most common color but the caterpillars do come in a wide variety of shades ranging from green to shocking pink. The markings down the middle of the back are distinctive regardless of color (the dash inside the semi-circle reminds me of a power button). The Area de Conservación Guanacaste (AGC) site has an excellent series of photos from Costa Rica. The species is native to Central and South America, and yes, they are a stinging species. Regards.
Karl

Thanks so much Karl.  You are in agreement with Bill Oehlke on this one.

Bill Oehlke Responds, the second time with an Identification
December 21, 2010
Daniel,
The larva looks familiar to me, but I am not sure that it is an Automeris species. It may well have been green a day or so before the image was taken as it may be prepupal.
If you can find the location in Peru, that will greatly reduce the amount of search time required.
Bill Oehlke

Daniel,
I think there is a good chance it is Dirphia avia. I am very interested in making contact with people who live in South American countires as they can be a great resource for finding larvae, rearing them to adulthood and then photographing adults. I can usually readily identify adults, and then larvae can also be identified. So far there are many species in South America whose larvae have not been identified. I just checked Lemaire’s Hemileucinae 2002, and he mentions Dirphia avia larvae turn from greenish white to purplish just prior to spinning.
The black markings are a pretty good match for Dirphia avia. Any chance there are also pictures of a laterl view, hostplant info, date?
All those things can be helpful.
Thanks for thinking of me.
Bill Oehlke

Thanks Bill,
We will forward your identification to Sarah and copy you in the hope that she will be able to provide you with assistance in the future.

Thanks everyone for helping me out on this one!
Unfortunately this fellow was not on a plant or really anywhere near one, he was headed up the wall of the lodge where we were staying, I assume to start spinning as he was quite fat.
I can give a very exacting location however, we were on Km 52.5 of the Iquitos-Nauta road, about a hours drive southeast of Iquitos, Peru. If you follow this link and scroll to the bottom, there is a map of the location: http://www.bluemorphotours.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=87
I took the photo two weeks ago today.
The colors are pretty accurate in the photo, he was a bubblegum pink and about 5 inches long.
Let me know if I can help you in any other way.
regards and Happy Holidays!
Sarah

Posted 20 December 2010 § Silkworms ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Caterpillars

Monarch – Different Instars?
Location: Fort Myers, Florida
December 20, 2010 11:10 am
Greetings from sunny (but cold) Florida! I was suprised to find I still have monarch caterpillars even after the almost freezing weather this past week. However, I also noticed another caterpillar that looked very similar – but the black, yellow, and white bands are different. They are both on the milkweed, but the look-alike’s black bands seem more prominent. I’ve watched over the last couple of days, and the look-alike doesn’t seem to be changing the bands as he gets bigger. Is this a different butterfly, or just a different stage of the monarch I haven’t seen before?
Thanks!
Signature: Catherine

monarch cats catherine 300x189 Monarch Caterpillars

Monarch Caterpillars

Dear Catherine,
Just as some people have brown hair and others red or blond hair, there is often individual variation among insects of the same species.  We do not see anything unusual in the variations you point out and it is our opinion that these are two Monarch Caterpillars.  Thanks for your question and also for your wonderful photograph.

Posted 20 December 2010 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Metallic Chrysalis from Costa Rica: Cream Spotted Clearwing Butterfly

Silver Metallic chrysalis
Location: Costa Rica
December 19, 2010 9:24 pm
Hey bugman, I’m trying to get an id on this chrysalis. If I had thought about it, I would have just gotten the name from the card sitting on the display. But six months removed from the time I took the picture, I can’t seem to find any info about it. The picture was taken in the butterfly garden at La Paz Waterfall Gardens in Costa Rica. From their webpage, I know the chrysalis came from one of the species listed here – http://www.waterfallgardens.com/butterflies.php. Any idea which it is? Thanks
Signature: Patrick

chrysalis metallic nymphalidae costarica patrick 199x300 Metallic Chrysalis from Costa Rica: Cream Spotted Clearwing Butterfly

Cream Spotted Clearwing Butterfly Chrysalis

Dear Patrick,
It would seem that you are in possession of the same information that we would need to search for the identity of your Chrysalis.  If we wanted to identify the chrysalis of a butterfly that we knew was represented on a list of possibilities, our course of action would be to search for images of the chrysalis of each of the 39 species pictured on the Waterfall Gardens website by utilizing a search engine.  We would definitely eliminate the Swallowtails, Sulphurs and Whites from the first two rows as this is a Brush-Footed Butterfly or Nymphalid Chrysalis.  We noticed that the website you provided has individual pop up windows on the species that they picture, but alas, those do not have images of the entire life cycle.  We would hope that after searching the remaining 31 possibilities, eliminating known quantities like the Monarch, we might be able to provide an answer.  Doing this type of painstaking research often takes a great deal of time.  Working our way through the list, we are content that this is the Chrysalis of the Orange Spotted Tiger Clearwing Butterfly, Mechanitis polymnia, the 37th species from the top, based on a photo on the Visuals Unlimited website and one on the PhotoBank website.  It is also pictured on the Obsession with Butterflies website.  The chrysalis of the closely related Mechanitis polymnia looks quite similar and it is pictured on the Butterfly of San Martín Peru website.

Thanks, I’m satisfied.

Correction Courtesy of Keith Wolfe
December 22, 2010
Daniel, I’m sorry to be a grinch, since you obviously spent a fair amount of time trying to find an ID, but this chrysalis isn’t an Orange-spotted Tiger Clearwing (Mechanitis polymnia)-in-waiting, instead almost certainly being that of a Cream-spotted Clearwing (Tithorea tarricina)*, which is another common Costa Rican ithomiid featured in local butterfly exhibits.  The pupae shown in your second and third links appear to be correctly labeled as Orange-spotteds, however, the trio that pop up at the Obsession site are actually Cream-spotteds — note differences in the two species’ shape, patterning, and color.  (As I mentioned before, wrong identifications of caterpillars and chrysalises abound on the Web, thus the importance of keeping the Bugman “honest”.)  And here’s what Patrick’s Cream-spotted looked like several days earlier: http://culturalnomad.deviantart.com/art/Striped-tube-146765080.
Best wishes,
Keith
* http://www.tolweb.org/Tithorea/27578

Thanks so much for the correction Keith.  It is much appreciated.  It is interesting that the Cream Spotted Clearwing is not even represented on the Waterfall Gardens website.  Upon receiving your correction, we found an image on FlickR of the chrysalides of the Cream Spotted Clearwing to link to for reference.

Update from Keith Wolfe
Daniel, I just checked and Tithorea tarricina (Cream-spotted Clearwing) is listed by La Paz — reading left to right, 25 pix down.
Cheers,
Keith

Thanks Keith,
Our eyes looked right past it.

Posted 20 December 2010 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

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