Hickory Horned Devil -- Citheronia Regalis

in Fascinating Insects5 years ago

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What a find! These demonic looking caterpillars drop down from the trees to find a place to burrow & pupate in late summer.


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If you look closely, you'll notice this isn't the same one as the first two photos. This one has black horns, I found him last August whereas the one with orange horns I found yesterday.

Maybe the larger, light teal with orange horns one is female and this one is male? I wonder...


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Maybe the larger, light teal with orange horns one is female and this one is male? I wonder...

As caterpillars don't need to find/attract sexual partners, I guess there is no need for gender dimorphimsm at this stage of development (that doesn't mean I would completely exclude this explanation).

In Wikipedia I find: "They molt four times. Each instar is different, but on their fifth and final instar they become a bright green color, with huge, black-tipped red horns, earning them their common name hickory horned devils.".