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Project Noah Nature School
Synchlora aerata
These camouflage experts become Wavy-lined Emerald moths. This caterpillar adorns its body with plant fragments, usually flower petals, to camouflage it as it feeds. It is the only widespread species to do so, but from Maryland southwards other Synchlora spp. are also present and only raising to adulthood can yield a definite caterpillar ID.
Fields and other open habitats. Caterpillars feed on a wide variety of plants, often composite flowers but also many other flowering plants, shrubs and trees.
Congratulations Greg, your Common Eupithecia has been chosen to illustrate our Fact of the Day:
"On #NationalMothWeek, each day we'll be bringing you an educational fact about moths, courtesy of National Moth Week team member and Project Noah ranger Jacob Gorneau. Today we focus on moths in the family Geometridae, commonly known as geometer or inchworm moths. The reason for this name is the strange morphology of the larvae, which only have 2 or 3 prolegs instead of 5 (prolegs are the fleshy legs at the posterior end of the body, opposed to the thoracic legs which are tougher in appearance). The lack of prolegs means that these caterpillars cannot move efficiently like a typical caterpillar, but instead must move along by crunching their body together in a horseshoe shape and then unfurling it out again, making it look as though they are measuring things!"
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It is a very cool find. I'd done some research trying to find out what mine was, but your spotting enticed me to start again and I found what I was looking for quite quickly. Thanks for the confirmation Eis4Xtreme....
Thank you http://www.projectnoah.org/users/Gordon%... and http://www.projectnoah.org/users/Eis4Xtr... For helping me identify this amazing camouflaging caterpillar. It is unique in the caterpillar world indeed.
I may have just found it! It may be a Wavy-lined Emerald. See http://bugguide.net/node/view/27013/bgim.... I think that this is it! What is your take?
This is very cool. I photographed this caterpillar as well, but haven't been able to ID it at all. Have you come up with any hints? It may be tough as this caterpillar appears to camouflage itself. Fascinating....
Spotted on Aug 14, 2013
Submitted on Aug 14, 2013
