Caterpillar on Cornus
Please help me identify this hitchhiker. I found it on a Cornus mas cutting I took from a friend’s garden. He is oriented facing downward on the twig. In the first photo, you can see two ridges coming from either side of his body and coming together along his back, just above another similar protuberance that is just above his tail. The horn above his head has two red-tipped points. He has a very small, round head that is tucked-in under a hood-like structure above his head. He appears to have three different kinds of feet: the front three pairs are small and pointy. The middle four pairs are fleshy. The last pair, near his tail, are small and stubby. I put the Cornus mas cutting with a potted Cornus nuttallii in case he should need more food, but when I checked on him the next day, he was nowhere to be seen. Can you help me identify him, and what he eats? Thanks
Tammy Romero
Hi Tammy,
This is a Redwashed Prominent Caterpillar, Oligocentria semirufescens. According to BugGuide, the caterpillar eats a wide variety of leaves, including “Apple, beech, birch, poplar, oak, maples, roses and willows.” Based on your latter, we can add Cornus to the list.