Mystery Caterpillar


ursulav
Mystery Caterpillar
September 18th, 2011: They call me...El Mysterioso!
Anybody know what this little guy is? I’ve been through the on-line bug ID guides and can’t find him. I figure he’s probably a moth, but that’s as far as I know.
That’s a serviceberry shrub he’s on, but that may or may not have any significance.

ETA: The stinging rose caterpillar! I knew the internet brain trust would not fail (and damn, is that a fantastic name or what?)
Originally published at Squash's Garden. You can comment here or there.
Tags: insects

22 comments — :

( 22 comments — Leave a comment )

firstfrost

2011-09-18 05:05 pm (UTC)

Looks like a Stinging Rose Caterpillar. (Do not touch!)

Edited at 2011-09-18 05:05 pm (UTC)

ursulav

2011-09-18 05:20 pm (UTC)

Oh, wonderful! Thank you! (And I didn't touch, but man, what an AWESOME name!)

niamh_sage

2011-09-18 07:51 pm (UTC)

That is right out of a fairy tale.

ysabet

2011-09-18 06:13 pm (UTC)

Wow-- amazing variation in the colors on this one! Beautiful.

(Suspicious comment)

smurasaki

2011-09-18 05:11 pm (UTC)

Aw, just a little bit too late.

dark_phoenix54

2011-09-18 05:41 pm (UTC)

That is a great name.

My only guess would have been "something that should live under the ocean and never see the light of day"

fatfred

2011-09-18 05:42 pm (UTC)

Anything that bright and visible is probably poisonous!

siliconshaman

2011-09-18 07:31 pm (UTC)

Or faking it..

fatfred

2011-09-18 08:36 pm (UTC)

True dat!

siliconshaman

2011-09-18 07:33 pm (UTC)

Well, I didn't know what it was, but damn it looks poisonous !
And yeah, stinging rose is an awesome name.

torakiyoshi

2011-09-18 08:23 pm (UTC)

Well, isn't he just a handsome fellow! And very tempting to just reach out an-- OW!

aspidites

2011-09-18 08:54 pm (UTC)

Definitely what firstfrost said :-)... For caterpillar ID, I recommend "Caterpillars of Eastern North America", by David L. Wagner (Princeton Field Guides, Princeton University Press, 2005). Available on Amazon, cheap! (I paid $30 for it, but it's listed at $19.06 right now.) (Sorry, tried to link to the listing, and failed utterly :-)

anthony_lion

2011-09-18 09:05 pm (UTC)

Only one thing to do; pack it gently in a box, ship it to Bear Grylles and ask him how it tastes...

aspidites

2011-09-19 01:37 am (UTC)

LMAO! That guy is SUCH an idiot!

anthony_lion

2011-09-19 06:58 am (UTC)

Yeah.

I only watch the show in the hope if seeing him injure himself.
(Doesn't happen often enough, really.)

raigne

2011-09-18 09:10 pm (UTC)

The moth it becomes is pretty sweet looking too.

trikotomy

2011-09-18 11:02 pm (UTC)

"Red-Footed Fuzzy-Wuzzy" and "Hickory Horned Devil" are also some fine names for ~~gothic murder tribbles and enraged orcish hate sausages~~ caterpillars.

akirashima

2011-09-18 11:11 pm (UTC)

It is like a Nudibranch on Land! SO Amazing!!!

highwing

2011-09-18 11:35 pm (UTC)

Yes, it is, isn't it?

During the two years I lived in Florida as a child, we occasionally encountered saddleback caterpillars on our property, and at first that's what I thought this was, but the colors and the arrangement of its protuberances is somewhat different. About the only thing that's the same is that you didn't want to touch a saddleback either - yowch!!!