Caterpillars, Part III

Here's the last of lots of cool larvae found over the past two weeks or so. Most of them were discovered and photographed during this event RIGHT HERE.

Spotted Apatelodes (Apatelodes torrefacta) are cool cats indeed, although we must watch getting a bit jaded to them, as they turn up quite commonly. They resemble tubular Pomeranian dogs and come in two color forms: this lemony hue, and bright white. Apatelodes (Ah-pat-eh-lo-dees) are always crowd- pleasers, especially once you show people the party trick that follows.

As always, click the photo to enlarge

They have bright cherry-red booties! Although, as this is mostly a science blog, I suppose we should refer to them as anterior prolegs.

Spotted Apatelodes caterpillars are quite cooperative, and it's pretty easy to coax them onto a small petiole or twig, which then can be rotated for optimal booty photography.

A closer view of those cherry-colored anterior prolegs. Quite showy and equally pleasing in both yellow and white forms of the caterpillar. The million-dollar question: why are they bright red? Insofar as I know, this remains one of life's great mysteries. Many brilliant minds have pondered this question for much of recorded history, yet it remains a deep and apparently unfathomable enigma.

Here's another cat with spotted in the moniker, the Spotted Phosphila (Phosphila miselioides). It is an extreme specialist, eating only greenbriers (catbriers) in the genus Smilax. Greenbriers are not very beloved. They form low shrubby tangles in woodland understories and are heavily armed with stout thorns. Those of us that hunt cats love greenbriers though, because they host this caterpillar and the one to follow and also THIS WACKO SPECIES, a true Holy Grail of caterpillar hunters.

A bevy of Turbulent Phosphila caterpillars (Phosphila turbulenta) rests communally on the underside of a Greenbrier leaf. This species is highly social and when you find one, there's nearly always plenty of others. Turbulent Phosphilas appear two-headed, and it can be hard to tell which end is which. The rear of the caterpillar is more prominently marked with larger white spots.

Head on with a feeding Sycamore Tussock caterpillar (Halysidota harrisii). It is well-named and there is only one plant species that it could be eating: Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). It is another extreme specialist, but its host plant is very common and so are the caterpillars.

A Virginia Creeper Sphinx (Darapsa myron) feeds on the leaf of a Riverbank Grape (Vitis riparia). It is a specialist on members of the grape family (Vitaceae), which in Ohio includes five native species of grapes, and two creeper species. Plants in this family host a variety of interesting, beautiful caterpillars, and we always give them the once-over when hunting cats.

The interesting slant-faced caterpillar of the Walnut Sphinx Moth (Amorpha juglandis). National Wildlife Magazine once did a short piece on this oddity, featuring an image taken by your narrator. The cat is particularly notable as it can make loud hissing sounds when threatened, typically violently thrashing its body at the same time. The effect is remarkably snake-like.

This is one of a number of sphinx cats that specialize on ash, the Waved Sphinx (Ceratomia undulosa). Even though the invasive Emerald Ash Borer has been hard on our ashes, and their deaths due to that beetle has altered the composition of some woodlands, ash remains common. As far as I know, this sphinx uses all of Ohio's five ash species (all in the genus Fraxinus).

Perhaps suggestive of a sphinx but in a different family is this White-dotted Prominent (Nadata gibbosa). It eats oak, primarily, but also other members of the Fagaceae family such as beech. A rather large, handsome cat, last instar (fully grown) specimens can engage in a remarkable snake-like display when threatened. First, the caterpillar will bare its mandibles, creating the illusion of scary eyes, then slowly sway back and forth like a cobra in the snake charmer's basket. Pushed further, it'll coil its body and throw its head over the loop in another snake-like display. I have pictures of those poses HERE and HERE.

Beautiful in a rather indescribable way is this Wavy-lined Heterocampa (Cecrita biundata). It mimics its leafy autumnal surroundings remarkably well, the dappled browns on its body suggesting aging necrotic leaf patches. This species is more catholic in its diet than many caterpillars, eating many species of woody plants.

One of my personal favorites is this Witch Hazel Dagger (Acronicta hamamelis). It is yet another hyper-specialist, eating only its namesake plant (Hamamelis virginiana).

Finally, we will end this caterpillar tour with a butterfly, even if these lesser day-flying moths only constitute a tiny fraction of a percent of the lepidopteran species that occur over the Eastern Deciduous Forest region. This one is particularly cool though. It is a Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus).

Here's a head-on view of the Zebra cat noshing on a leaf edge. And that could only be one species of leaf: Pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Like many of the moths that I have shared, it too is highly specialized.

To truly practice conservation of biodiversity, it is necessary to protect and provide habitat for ALL plant species. That's about 1,850 species just in Ohio, and we haven't done a particularly good job. Over one-third of our native plant species are officially listed as endangered, threatened, potentially threatened, or extirpated (no longer known to occur in Ohio) by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Here's the LINK TO THE LIST.

It's the little things like caterpillars, fostered by native flora, that are the building blocks of biodiversity. And far few too many people, even those involved in management of natural resources, have a good grasp of that. Fortunately, with the ever-increasing popularity of moths, more and more people are tuning into a greater ecological awareness, and that should only be good for true conservation of our natural resources into the future.