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Project Noah Nature School
Euclea delphinii
As the official last full day of summer comes to an end in the Northern Hemisphere, I decided to share my favorite find of the Summer, a lime-green caterpillar with vibrant spines and festive colors, Euclea delphinii. These caterpillars are members of the family Limacodidae, known as Slug Moths. The larvae of Limacodidae are likened to slugs because of their lethargic movement and head being hidden by the body, only to be shown when the caterpillar raises its body.
Found on a shed; reclocated to larval hostplant of Oak (Quercus sp.). In David L. Wagner's guide, "Caterpillars of Eastern North America," he states the larvae grow to 2 centimeters, so it is likely this caterpillar may be near its full growth.
Lifer! This find was a total surprise and absolutely spectacular! I thought I was seeing things when I saw this on a shed from a distance, but as I approached my jaw dropped in amazement. I gently nudged it on to a leaf without touching the spines (reactions very from a small nuisance to excruciating pains). The spines break off and release irritant chemicals into the body.
Spotted on Aug 12, 2013
Submitted on Sep 22, 2013
45 Comments (1–25)
Thank you very much, Rieko, Luis, and Mark!
Fantastic cattie J. Congratulations.
Beautiful spotting! Congrats Jacob!
Congratulations !!!
Thank you so much, Leanne! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Congratulations Jacob, on your amazing SOTD. Love the video too, it's beautiful :)
Thank you very much Braulio!
Thank you so much Env, Ashley, Rick, Reza, Mona, Chester, Tiz, Sachin, Marta, Andrea, Sergio, António, namitha, Maria, and Carol for your extremely kind comments and words of congratulations! Thank you very much to Karen for selecting this as Spotting of the Day! I'm honored not only for this spotting but for the opportunity to share my love and thirst of knowledge for nature with such a wonderful community!
Congrats, J!
What an awesome find!
WOW! I love this. Congratulations!
Congratulations, Jacob!
Congratulations J, on SOTD for this spectacular, well deserved summer find!
J congrats again on the SOTD :-)
One more for the cat's! Congratulations, Jacob. :-)
What an amazing caterpillar J. Congratulations on your SOTD!!
Congratulations! I knew it could be an SOTD, is such a pretty caterpillar :-)
Congratulations !!
Congratulations (again) to this great find Jakubko, and to the spotting of the day! :)
This has me feeling irie!
Congratulations J.. :)
Congratulations J !
CONGRATS !! On A Great Find & SOTD Great Series Jacob !!
Beautiful, Jacob! Fantastic photos showing so much detail, and the video is pretty awesome too :)
Woohoo! This spectacular caterpillar has earned you spotting of the day honors, Jacob!
The spiny oak slug moth caterpillar’s bright coloration warns potential predators of its sting.
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Thank you for your very kind words, António!!