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Podalia orsilocha (Cramer, 1775)
"Taturana-gatinho" is one of the names given in Brazil for this kind of caterpillars of the Megalopygidae family. The critter shown above had about 70mm long and during one month (photo 1 - January 18; photo 2 - January 25; photo 3 - February 7; photo 4 - February 17) it was photographed feeding on this plant. They have venomous spines that can cause a painful sting and inflammation lasting for several days. In some cases, the sting may cause headache, nausea, and shock-like symptoms.
I found this caterpillar near the jungle of Atlantic Forest, in Parque São Vicente, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, about 840m above sea level.
The town of the coordinates (lat: -22.537570, long: -43.228488) that I used for search, is not DUQUE DE CAXIAS, as reports the search map tool of this page, but PETRÓPOLIS, as shown here:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/22%C2%...
Spotted on Jan 18, 2013
Submitted on Apr 3, 2016
14 Comments
Great spotting Antonio... Congrats!!
Very nice series! Congrats!
Many thanks to everyone.
I am very proud to have this spotting elected SOTD.
Congratulations AntonioCarlosDeBarrosCarvalho!
Fantastic shot!! Congrats on SOTD
Parabéns, Antonio Carlos. Linda foto de um animal magnífico.
Congratulations Antonio! What a fantastic SOTD!
Congrats Antonio, this hairy caterpillar has been chosen as Spotting of the Day!
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/7...
Looks like Donald trump has lost his wig!
Now, seriously, very nice spotting! :-)
Thanks for taking the time. Really appreciate.
Thank you, Stephanie R., Gilma Jeannette Ospino Ferreira-Norman and SukanyaDatta.
As said by Dr. Roberto Moraes (a biologist of Butantan Institute) in the video of the link below (audio in Portuguese), it is a very common caterpillar that ocurres in all Brazilian territory, and in the last 10 years I found and phoytographed this species at least 5 times.
Sorry, SukanyaDatta, but I have no ID suggestion for your amazing caterpillar.
Video: http://globoplay.globo.com/v/2662538/
HI!
I once found a well-combed caterpillar which looks a bit like this one (but well combed) ...would you mind taking a look and seeing if an ID is possible...or a guess.
Many thanks
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/190...
That is a gorgeous creature. Thanks for sharing, AntonioCarlosDeBarrosCarvalho.
This is both fantastic and creepy at the same time! Are they common, or rare insects?