Subject: caterpillar with two yellow bumps on back.
Location: ellensburg Washington
June 19, 2012 6:39 pm
I live in Ellensburg Washington, and today I found a caterpillar on a leaf in my apple tree. Its about 1 1/2 inches long with two yellow/orange bumps side by side on its back near its head. It has two antenna kinda has spikes coming from them. And a mouth/ head that looks rough like sand paper. What could this be?
Signature: kari
Dear Kari,
We are very excited to post your photo as it is the only photo we have of the caterpillar of a Lorquin’s Admiral, Limenitis lorquini. We matched it to a photo on BugGuide and elsewhere on BugGuide, it states: “Larvae feed on willows, poplars, chokecherry” so we can add apple to that list. We have a few photos of the adult Lorquin’s Admiral on our site, but again, this is a first for the caterpillar.