Subject: unknown caterpillar
Location: Africa – Tanzania
March 18, 2013 2:02 am
hello all,
a friend found this large and beautiful caterpillar on a tree in tanzania, i think i could be an Imbrasia species, but i couldn´t find the exact species. Perhaps you can help me.
Thank you very much… greetings from Germany !
Signature: –
This really is a beautiful caterpillar. We will contact Bill Oehlke to get assistance with its identification.
I think your contributor is on the right track. His larva looks similar to the “Mopane Worm” (Gonimbrasia belina; Saturniidae)) I photographed on mopane (Colophospermum mopane; Fabaceae) at the Hobatere Lodge, Damaralanbd, Namibia, 26 March 2010. The larvae are collected, dried, and highly prized as food (tried one, but too “spiky” for me to really enjoy). [Don’t see how to post a photo in my comment, so I’ll try submitting it separately.]
Thanks Julian,
We are awaiting an identification request on this from Bill Oehlke who runs the World’s Largest Saturniidae Site. We will post your photo immediately.