Baron Butterfly Caterpillar from India

by

Green feathery caterpillar
January 17, 2010
My father found this in his home garden. It’s feathery and looks really beautiful . Is it rare? We never seen anything like this at least.
SB
Bangalore, South India

Baron Caterpillar

Dear SB,
We are unable to provide you with a definitive species identification at the moment, but there is a striking similarity to your caterpillar and the Crowned Slug Caterpillar, Isa textula, from North America.  We can say with confidence that they are in the same family, the Stinging Slug Caterpillars in the family Limacodidae.  Handle with care as they can sting.

Correction thanks to Karl
January 18, 2009
Hi Daniel:
Well, I probably would have put money on this being a Limacodid caterpillar, but I could find nothing
that looked like a good candidate. I now think it is probably a Baron (sometimes Baronet) butterfly in
the genus Euthalia (Nymphalidae: Limenitidinae). One online list of Indian butterflies listed 53 species
in this genus so I don’t think we are likely to nail this one down. The caterpillar photos I did find all
looked very similar, for example the Common Baron (E. aconthea), which is found throughout India
(http://wapedia.mobi/en/Common_Baron). I couldn’t find any reference to a stinging threat, but I
would certainly avoid touching any caterpillar that looks this prickly.  It could all be about camouflage;
feathery spines to break up the outline and a mid-dorsal stripe to mimic the mid-vein of a leaf (check
out the link, above). Regards.
Karl

10 thoughts on “Baron Butterfly Caterpillar from India”

  1. I think the common Baron caterpillars are really cool. I think I want one know. very pretty when it terns into a Butterfly so cute.

    Reply

  3. I read that the sting of baron caterpillar is poisonous and deadly.
    But I doubt that’s true since it uses camouflage rather that poison to defend itself.
    Anyone can confirm this please?

    Reply

    • We will attempt to determine if the Caterpillar of the Baron Butterfly actually stings, or if it only looks like it stings. We seriously doubt it is deadly

      Reply

  4. I read that the sting of baron caterpillar is poisonous and deadly.
    But I doubt that’s true since it uses camouflage rather that poison to defend itself.
    Anyone can confirm this please?

    Reply

  5. Hi friends, this is Amol from Mumbai. Today in the morning I found a Baron caterpillar on my mango tree in the front yard of our entry gate. Throuw some light whether its poisonous or not. It was same as shown in the picture.

    Reply

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