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Project Noah Nature School
Papilio cresphontes
Grayish brown body with three patches of white down each side, a broad white subdorsal collar that runs just above head back along sides of thorax, white, V-shaped, abdominal saddle that extenda down to first proleg; and porcelain white patch that envelopes caudal end of body.
Two large caterpillars were on my kumquat tree.
Spotted on Jul 1, 2012
Submitted on Jul 13, 2012
2 Comments
I found one of these on the side of my house. I figured that wasn't the best of spots for it since the backyard is mostly all brick on the ground. So, I goaded it to crawl onto a leaf and then moved it over to the grass and placed it on the citrus tree.
And yes, at first I thought it was poop. Then, when I got close it emitted it's "horns", followed by a putrid smell. I immediately became intrigued by what kind of caterpillar this was so I searched caterpillars in Arizona and it took me to this site. I clicked on this photo and voila! It's awesome that a caterpillar which looks like poop grows up to be such a beautiful butterfly. I read that these caterpillars are considered pests by citrus farmers because of the devastation they can cause to citrus crops. I'm sure one little caterpillar shouldn't be able to do too much on it's own though.
Congratulations! We always say it looks like poop. I have had a Giant butterfly visiting my garden recently, but have not found the caterpillar. And yes Red Dog is what the Orange Growers call them.