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I found these caterpillars all grouped together on the back of a chokecherry leaf. There was an egg mass nearby, but I don't think it was related.
Diverse woods adjacent to a small lake.
Spotted on Jul 2, 2012
Submitted on Aug 19, 2012
3 Comments
Looks similar to this one as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Agraul...
except head colour on yours is black
nice spotting!
My guess is that this little group are larva of a species of butterfly from Subfamily Heliconiinae. They look like a pretty early instar (many larva change appearance from the time they hatch to the time they pupate each time they shed their skin). You can check here to see if you find something similar:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/12669/bgpa...