by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Which comes first: the caterpillar or the butterfly (or moth)? It’s such an interesting puzzle to think about when you find a caterpillar – what flying beauty will it turn into? Here are a few that live in our area that tentatively I have matched up.
We found two of these 1.75 inch-long moths resting in full daylight on the garden gate. Where do you start when you want to identify something like this? One clue that they are moths is the fact that moths rest with wings extended; butterflies close their wings. That was helpful in knowing what to search for.
Nearly two months after finding the moth, I found this gorgeous gold and green horned caterpillar in the woodland trail I was hiking 15 miles away from the garden. In searching for its identification, I had two clues that were useful: I noticed most likely plants that it might feed on in that area was Snowberry. The other useful thing was, I had a handy measuring tool with me! Some people have a quarter in their pocket to place by their subject for comparison, but I’ve found that in the time it takes me to locate something like that, my subject has disappeared.
The day I found the above caterpillar, there were many of them crawling about on grasses and weeds in an open area in the State Lands area west of Farm to Market. Those long white hairs were a useful feature when looking for the identification. Hairy caterpillars sometimes cause an uncomfortable rash if you handle them, so I don’t make a habit of touching them. The moth was taking its daytime rest, wings extended, on a plant stem in an open area in the Kuhns WMA on the east side of Farm to Market. Perhaps next spring there will be some of the hairy caterpillars in that area. Maybe I’ll check in late April.
This unusual-looking object lay on a leaf near my hiking path; I submitted pictures and description of the location to iNaturalist for help with identification. Some of the people who are experts in that area helped to identify it as the caterpillar in the genus limentis, matching the Lorquin’s Admiral butterfly. I’ve seen that butterfly in various places in the West Valley. This caterpillar is one that is sometimes called a “bird-dropping caterpillar”, a good description for a caterpillar that might deceive a bird looking for food to feed its nestlings.
On August 25, these two-inch long green leaf-eating caterpillars were pointed out to me. With some searching, we identified them as the caterpillars of the Pale Swallowtail – possibly one of the ones we saw visiting the lilacs near our house in June!
Moths and butterflies lay eggs on or near vegetation that their caterpillar offspring depend on. The eggs hatch into one form which pupates and continues the growth cycle; often this process will be repeated several times (called instars) until the mature caterpillar pupates into the flying insect that starts the process all over. Pretty amazing!
