Tawny Emperor Caterpillar, we believe

strange caterpillar in Waxahachie, Texas
Location: Waxahachie, Texas
May 1, 2011 10:15 am
I saw this strange caterpillar crawling on a bench in Waxahachie, Texas. It looked like it had a face of a cartoon frog with eyes. My son commented that it had ”eye antennas”. It looked a little like a Chinese dragon as well. What is this thing?
Signature: Stacey R.

Tawny Emperor Caterpillar

Hi Stacey,
This caterpillar with metamorphose into one of the Emperor Butterflies in the genus Asterocampa.  We believe, based on this image from BugGuide, that your caterpillar is a Tawny Emperor Caterpillar, Asterocampa clyton, though the other members of the genus have similar looking caterpillars.

Thanks, you are amazing!
Stacey

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Location: Texas