Mystery Caterpillar in Greenwood, S.C.
Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Hi,
I work at the Greenwood Humane Society here in Greenwood, S.C. While our director was photographing dogs for adoption she spotted this awesome little guy. She called us out ot see if we could id it. I think it looks kind of like a tobacco hornworm ,but upon closer inspection that doesn’t seem right. She guesses it’s size at about 3″ long and 1/4″ in diameter. It is November 6th, but the weather has been very warm for fall here. Today it was around 65-70 degrees. I love your website! Thank you for your time, and all that you do!
M.Bohland
Greenwood, S.C.
Hi M,
Your Luna Moth Caterpillar has probably come out of the trees to find a place to spin its cocoon. Luna Moths spin their cocoon inside of a dried leaf on the ground and pass the winter in the leaf litter under the snow if it is in an area that freezes.
This may be a Luna, but Polyphemus caterpillars are very similar. This one looks almost exactly like a Polyphemus I raised this fall; a side view of the markings (long horizontal line versus vertical lines on each segment) would probably be needed to know for certain.
I think this is a Polyphemus. >.> I had like, 70 of these last year. ^^