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Polyphemus moth caterpillar

Antheraea polyphemus




No species ID suggestions

21 Comments

KarenL
KarenL 6 months ago

Haha Carol, yes it does!

CarolSnowMilne
CarolSnowMilne 6 months ago

Looks like a cactus.

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Ha ha, yes it does look a little strange from that perspective!

achmmad
achmmad a year ago

First time, I was thinking its a flower!

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Thanks Annalisa!

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Thanks Ismael!
Carol, mine are just over 2" long & quite heavy. Only 2 leaf in the tree now as one has vanished & I have another in a jar in the garage superglued to a stick (it fell off the tree onto the ground!0

AnnalisaD
AnnalisaD a year ago

Fabulous work Karen!

Ismael Chaves
Ismael Chaves a year ago

Great macro!

CarolSnowMilne
CarolSnowMilne a year ago

I think I might have some cocoons of these. R they they really fat and heavy ones? I have about 3. Might get a net to go over them. I LOVE THESE PHOTOS! HA!

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Thanks Carol! I will do!
We now have four fat cocoons in our maples so hopefully I will finally get to see the moth in the spring! I'm thinking of bringing one in & with luck I might even get to watch it emerge!

CarolSnowMilne
CarolSnowMilne a year ago

U should definitely enter this in the best wildlife photo

CarolSnowMilne
CarolSnowMilne a year ago

WOW! Looking thru your older stuff. This is one of your best series ever! And one of the best series I have seen on Noah so far! Great job!

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Emma, thanks for your lovely comment!

Hemma
Hemma a year ago

great work as always! :) It is difficult not to become attached !

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Thanks Christiane! I have become strangely attached to these little guys - I'm just hoping this one manages to survive predation & hopefully I will get to see a polyphemus moth at some stage!

Christiane
Christiane a year ago

WOW.. great photos..

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Today we are down to just one caterpillar. No sign of any cocoons so it looks like the others have fallen prey to hungry bluebirds.

textless
textless a year ago

Thanks for the additional photos!

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

I've added another photo to show how it uses it's front feet to grip.
Today I found 4 of these guys all on the same small maple sapling we planted in the spring. There isn't much cover for them so they are likely to be picked off by the bluebirds or run out of food soon.

KarenL
KarenL a year ago

Yes, he is a big fat juicy guy! He has hidden himself well in the leaves of one of my maples but I fear he will end up as one of my bluebirds' dinner! I'm almost tempted to bring him in & see if I can raise him.

textless
textless a year ago

Great photo series... I think I may have seen one of these today (do they live in the west?), but it was in really poor condition. Anyway this one is lovely!

Tennessee, USA

Lat: 35.90, Long: -86.96

Spotted on Oct 2, 2011
Submitted on Oct 2, 2011

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