Cabbage Emperor Moth Caterpillar from Gabon is Bunaea alcinoe

Subject: caterpillar
Location: Gamba, Gabon
October 1, 2014 5:58 am
Found crawling among leaf debris in back garden. About 3.5 inches long, though can stretch longer.
Signature: dkortephoto

Cabbage Emperor Moth Caterpillar

Dear dkortephoto,
Your images are beautiful, as is this Caterpillar.  The only information we can provide at this time is a family, and your caterpillar belongs to the family Saturniidae, the Giant Silkmoths.  We have contacted Bill Oehlke for assistance as he has especial interest in the Saturniidae.  We hope you will permit him to post your images to his comprehensive website if he assists in the identification.

Cabbage Emperor Moth Caterpillar

Update:  October 3, 2014
We heard back from Bill Oehlke who identified this marvelous caterpillar as Bunaea alcinoe, a species represented in our archives.  The more typical coloration we see is black with yellow and red spikes.  Your red individual is not as common a color variation.  This species is known as the Cabbage Emperor Moth Caterpillar.

Cabbage Emperor Moth Caterpillar

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Location: Gamba, Gabon