Sunday, September 2, 2012

There's A Caterpillar In The Crabapple Tree

And not just any old caterpillar, there's one big a$$ caterpillar in our crabapple tree.

I received a call from my daughter late Wednesday afternoon. She'd been at our pond with her kids when someone spotted a most extraordinary critter. She was exited to share the news.

"Mom you've got to get out to the pond! There's a Robin moth caterpillar in the crab apple tree and he's huge! Mom, the Robin moth is the largest moth in North America! Take your camera, you'll want to share this on the blog."

So I did.

And I searched; high and low, near and far, glasses on, glasses off, every branch of that crab apple tree (at least I thought I did). All I found was this cute, fuzzy little larva. Barely an inch long, he is not "huge".

Spotted Tussock Moth

Ready to call it quits, I duck out from the under the tree when out of nowhere I am startled by this.






Isn't he the greatest, the most exotic, humongous, caterpillar you've ever laid eyes on? Over 4 inches long and bigger around than my thumb... yowzer!

We'd never seen or heard of this caterpillar before. My best friend does a little investigating and comes across this fun web site wormspit.com. I think we'll keep our crisper drawer bug free and let this caterpillar spend the winter in our crab tree.

The next morning I couldn't find him. I was sure he'd turned into a feast for the birds. I was wrong...whew. He's just settling down for a long winter's nap.




Sweet dreams Cecropia Silkmoth. Can't wait to see you when.

Cecropia Silkmoth
Source

Stay tuned for future updates on life in the crab apple tree by the pond.

Thanks, Erin. By the way, who discovered this colossal find?

3 comments:

  1. Wow. Amazing pictures mom. Might have to frame those....

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is one heck of a caterpillar! Looks like an alien trying to come across as a group of ladybugs.

    ReplyDelete

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