#spicebush caterpillar

[sitting-on-me-bum]

This spicebush swallowtail caterpillar on a leaf looks very snake-like.

Photographer: Jason Ondreicka / Getty Images

#jason ondreicka #photographer #getty images #spicebush swallowtail caterpillar #caterpillar #insect #snake-like #nature #moth

[evilertree]

Bugband sax

My first After Effects project in half a year, excuse any jank. Not super experienced but want to get better.

#illustration #spicebush swallowtail #spicebush swallowtail caterpillar #animation #after effects #bug #cw bugs #caterpillar #freaking cat pillar eat my purple #artists on tumblr #my art

[cherrio-krispz]

yum . Poorly sketched drawings

Drew Lunar and a new caterpillar/butterfly oc (sorry if we’re only allowed to make caterpillars!! </3)

Rhopatale belongs to @melaton1nx

#based off the spicebush swallowtail caterpillar/butterfly #lunar sans #moth sans #bushy #bushy caterpillar #undertale #undertale fanart #undertalegame #undertale au #undertale alternate universe #ut au #digital art #digital drawing #krispz #krispz art #krispzchaps

[astanula]

Hi: sorry for the delay, but I’d like to share where my caterpillars are!

Behind the scenes I’ve been raising a third species of caterpillar, and I’d like to share Papilio glaucus, two eastern tiger swallowtails!

As of now both of these caterpillars are in their fourth instars, and they’re thriving on black cherry (Prunus serotina), the same plant I’ve moved my promethea caterpillars (Callosamia promethea) onto. As it turns out, using sassafras as a host plant didn’t go great as it dries out far too quickly, so I moved them all onto this new host which lasts far longer. They’ve settled in quite nicely now!

The second brood of promethea eggs hatched too, and I attempted to mix them what what remained of the first brood (many of them died off). These caterpillars were off to a rocky start, as they kept wandering to places they shouldn’t be (caterpillar drowning anyone?), knocking each other off the leaves, and easily sustaining injuries that would be fatal to these delicate larvae. Despite quite a few deaths though, the group did pull through! I’ve counted, and there are about 25-26 promethea caterpillars left, and they’re doing much better now. Here’s some photos!

All of the promethea caterpillars still seem to be in the first instar, but I do think some of them are ready to molt to the second. As they share a branch with the tiger swallowtails I’ll likely move the latter soon as their appetite is proving to be overwhelming for the little guys.

The spicebush swallowtails (Papilio troilus) have been coasting along fine as well. However, since their host plants dry out EXTREMELY fast when cut off from the main plant, their growth seems to be stunted compared to the tiger swallowtails. They still seem to be alive, but two of them are in their third instars, while I think the third is in the second instar?

The three species I’ve noted all have intriguing differences in their behavior that I’d like to share!

In their earlier instars, Callosamia promethea are gregarious; this means that they’re very social and thrive in groups! Being around others encourages this species to eat if others are doing it. This is why sometimes they can starve out of nowhere; this generally happens to freshly hatched caterpillars that wander off and can’t find a group in time.

While they will eat alone sometimes if they’re given a few days, they still prefer group behavior. Many caterpillars are gregarious and often have different formations that they line up into. C. promethea likes to form rows and clusters, shown below!

The two swallowtail species in contrast are both solitary, and prefer feeding by themselves in all instars. However, they’re still both extremely interesting! These caterpillars like to use silk a lot to create pads they use for various purposes.

P. glaucus likes spinning a silk pad in the middles of leaves they’ve deemed a spot to rest! This silk folds up the edges of the leaf, but not completely. I’m actually not completely sure as to the purpose of this silk pad. My main theory is that is allows the caterpillar to locate the leaf it’s deemed its resting spot, as it can judge from which leaf has the curls/silk. Otherwise, I can’t really think of another purpose. I may have to look into it further as sometimes the caterpillars will just move to new leaves and create new silk pads there.

I used a flashlight in the photo below. The shiny spots indicate where the caterpillar has spun its silk pad.

P. troilus on the other hand likes taking it a step further. They’ll use their silk pad to curl the leaf around entirely to form a shelter for themselves. They tend to retreat into these little shelters when they aren’t eating. It seems a lot more practical than what P. glaucus does since the shelter can offer a lot of protection, especially in evading detection from hungry birds.

You can see below how these caterpillars spin the edge of the leaf around to the bade to form their shelter! The caterpillar can also be seen inside, though the lighting isn’t the best.

I hope this was an enjoyable update! I wanted to share some things I thought would be interesting to learn, especially with how unique these caterpillars can be. I’ll try to update more going forward, but thank you for reading this far! I’m excited to share more on these caterpillars going forward!

#insects #bugs #lepidoptera #moths #silk moths #saturniidae #callosamia #butterflies #caterpillar #papilio #papilionidae #tiger swallowtail #spicebush swallowtail #promethea moth

[angelnumber27]

spicebush swallowtail caterpillar

#it looks like a Pokémon!!!! #cutie #caterpillar #spicebush swallowtail #spicebush swallowtail caterpillar #bugs #biomimicry #predator camouflage #camouflage #orange #baby #animals #insects #bugs tw #upload #green #nature

[plutoniumsourcandy]

it is my bday and I am so so very eepy @pasupumpkin thank you so much for making my birthday so awesome (actual photo of me irl with one of my new plushies)

#spicebush swallowtail caterpillar

[autisticle010]

Hi I just came back to show these

Look at them I love them.

#ken txt #caterpillar #spicebush swallowtail #babies

[spaghetti-doodlesart]

#artists on tumblr #jelly gouache #caterpillar #gouache #spicebush swallowtail #my art

[rjalker]

another baby, this picture taken yesterday.

It's now in a chrysalis on Morgana the common persimmon, but it started raining so I'll have to take an update picture tomorrow :)

[ID: A photograph of a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar held on a white hand, with another hand behind for contrast. The caterpillar is bright yellow on its body, and more orange on its head. It has dark eyespots behind its head, and rows of multiple bright blue circles with a black outline on each of its body segments. End ID.]

#bugs #insects #baby bugs #baby animals #butterflies #butterflies and moths #caterpillars #described images #spicebush swallowtail #papilio #papilio troilus #swallowtails #Rjalker takes pictures #wildlife #nature

[shinypokemonshowdown]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but Caterpie and Metapod are based on the caterpillar and chrysalis of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. . . And their shinies are also based on color variations of their IRL counterparts!

The spicebush swallowtail caterpillar turns bright yellow right before pupation. The chrysalis is (usually) formed on a branch and thus camouflages as a leaf, and it turns either green or brown based on the seasonal lighting conditions! If it pupates in the summer, it will match the live, green leaves. If it pupates in the fall (in the part of its range with cold winters), it will be a chrysalis until the spring and, since green would stick out like a sore thumb, it turns brown to match the dead leaves!

So the yellow Caterpie and rusty orange Metapod reflect those color changes. :) Some of the most meaningful shinies out there, really!

(I would add pictures but I can't on anon, but if you look it up, you can find images of the differences in color pretty easily.)

Woe! I never new that, that's super cool. I love when shinies have irl connections

#not a poll

[herpsandbirds]

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus), caterpillar, family Papilionidae, Middlesex Fells Reservation, Melrose, Massachusetts, USA

photograph by Jared Adelman

#swallowtail #butterfly #papilio #papilionidae #lepidoptera #insect #entomology #animals #nature #north america

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar

Michael Hodge / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

#michael hodge #photographer #wikimedia commons #spicebush swallowtail caterpillar #caterpillar #insect #nature

[alivingmel]

ON A LIGHTER NOTE, here's one of the IRL Caterpies (aka Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars) I'm raising this year, because summer is caterpillar season!!!

This lil dude's busy SILKIN' IT UP. . . They spit layers of silk down the middle of a leaf and, as the silk dries and contracts, the leaf folds over and forms a little taco-shaped shelter over them. If a predator like a bird tries to infiltrate their munch shack, they're likely to get the scare of their life from those big ol' snake eyes!

#NO ART BUT I GOT BUGS TO SPARE #the biggest change I have made in the last few years is going from Invertebrate Neutral to being REALLY FUCKING PUMPED about bugs #I have. . . So many isopods now. . .

[mutant-distraction]

Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar

Photographer: Jay Cossey

[angelnumber27]

Spicebush swallowtail caterpillar

#literally a caterpie #upload #green #bugs #caterpillar #caterpillars #insects #spicebush swallowtail caterpillar #snake #snake eyes #predator camouflage #camouflage #nature #animals #aesthetic #plants #photography

[pcktknife]

You mentioned volcarona in the tags of that one post. If Im remembering correctly, Volcarona may be loosely based on the Atlas Moth

The largest moth in terms of wingspan. I love bug pokemon, nearly every single one is based on some sort of real world equivalent (caterpie being a spicebush caterpillar, heracross being a japanese rhinoceros beetle, snow being a jewel caterpillar etc etc)

-

yep! i actually went directly to check what volcarona was based on right after i rbed that post lol. i luv when pokemon draw insp from animals real or mythological <3

#submission #bugs #moths