This beauty ate one of my husband's apple trees (notice the apple for scale.) I've never seen such a big caterpillar. He said, "Did you kill it?" Of course not.
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I agree, beastly looking horns on that LARGE caterpillar, I'm shuddering here.. lol!
According to Audubon's Field Guide to Insects this is a Cecropia Moth caterpillar, largest moth in N. Am. with wingspan 4 3/4"-5 7/8", brown/orange/white with stripes and crecsents. They eat ash, birch, maple, alder, elm, wild cherry, willow, lilac, and yes, apple. Flight time is May-June, so your guy will be making a large cocoon soon, brown/grey, along a branch. Look for it to transform into a beautiful moth next May.
Three Rivers is a small city in the U.S. midwest, halfway between Detroit and Chicago. This blog consists of photos taken in the City of Three Rivers, Michigan, and in the surrounding Three Rivers postal zone area. For more lovely scenes of the countryside around Three Rivers, click on over to HelenMac's "Day By Day in Fabius".
4 comments:
I agree, beastly looking horns on that LARGE caterpillar, I'm shuddering here.. lol!
Almost psychedelic this caterpillar! And a beautiful photo of him, her, it!
According to Audubon's Field Guide to Insects this is a Cecropia Moth caterpillar, largest moth in N. Am. with wingspan 4 3/4"-5 7/8", brown/orange/white with stripes and crecsents. They eat ash, birch, maple, alder, elm, wild cherry, willow, lilac, and yes, apple. Flight time is May-June, so your guy will be making a large cocoon soon, brown/grey, along a branch. Look for it to transform into a beautiful moth next May.
yikes! will the apple tree recover? I would like to see that giant moth but not so much the caterpillar.
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