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Polygonia interrogationis
It is a brightly colored non-venomous caterpillar that has black and white speckles on the body with orange and yellow spines.The caterpillar has colorful spines to act like it is venomous, this is also known as aposematism coloration.These colors make birds think that they are deadly and leave them alone.The caterpillars feed on Hackberry, (celtis).Hackberry can be common in these areas.The butterflies have orange and brown wings with a silver question mark symbol on the underside.
Semi-urban, Fort Worth, Texas.This caterpillar was found as eggs, and were bred to the 3rd instar.These caterpillars can also live in many terrains like urban habitats and sub-urban.They also like parks with lots of vegetation surrounding giving a place for the female butterfly to lay eggs.
This species has been found in southern Canada and all of the eastern United States except peninsular Florida, west to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, south to southern Arizona and Mexico. It is known to be migratory.
Spotted on May 21, 2020
Submitted on May 21, 2020
6 Comments
Thank you António for the nomination:)
“Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!”
Thank you, Suchandra Das.
Nice spotting
Thanks Photomadden, I used a Samsung Galaxy S8 plus.
Amazing photo! What camera or lense was used? because the photo has such detail and I have started down a photography path and want to see what equipment is more popular or effective.