Subject: Giant caterpillar burrowing under dead leaves
Geographic location of the bug: Miami, florida
Date: 03/22/2019
Time: 03:06 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hi there! My students and I found this giant caterpillar traveling down a tree trunk and o haven’t been able to identify it. It’s about 5-6” in length and after it reached the ground it burrowed under th dead leaves in the ground and stayed there.
How you want your letter signed: Nadia in miami
Dear Nadia,
This large caterpillar is a Fig Sphinx, Pachylia ficus, and it was on the ground searching for a place to pupate among the leaf litter. There must be a fig tree near the sighting.