Gato Moteado
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Tue Sep-11-07 09:19 PM
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| any butterfly/moth experts out here? help me identify this bizarre caterpillar. |
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i photographed this unusual caterpillar near the southern pacific coast of costa rica. it's shown here eating the fronds of a coconut palm. i had never seen anything like it. it looked to be armed with spines like some moth larva but i didn't touch it to see if they were real spines or mimics. if you know what it is, please let me know: http://i55.photobucket.com.nyud.net:8090/albums/g138/GatoMoteado/larva1.jpghttp://i55.photobucket.com.nyud.net:8090/albums/g138/GatoMoteado/larva2.jpg |
| Bullwinkle925
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Tue Sep-11-07 09:26 PM
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| 1. I surely don't know . . . |
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but it definitely is *cool* looking.
thanks for the pics.
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| Gato Moteado
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Tue Sep-11-07 09:34 PM
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| 2. yeah....it looked like some kind of UFO |
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i had never seen a caterpillar that wide and flat.
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| stuntcat
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Tue Sep-11-07 09:40 PM
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My aunt raises a outside room full of butterflies every year so I'll try sending these pictures to her to see what she knows, okay? She's in England for the next 2 or 3 days though and you might find out by then. And I'll forget how to tell you if she knows an answer :( But I'll send her a pic to test her anyway!
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| Kali
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Tue Sep-11-07 09:41 PM
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| 4. hard to tell the scale - how big is it? |
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I bet the spines are real - my instinctual gut reaction was Buckmoth, even though I know NOTHING about tropical species. (but I do have a fascinated phobia of larvae, so :scared:)
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| Gato Moteado
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Tue Sep-11-07 09:51 PM
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| 5. it was about the size of a half dollar....maybe slightly bigger |
| Quakerfriend
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Tue Sep-11-07 10:01 PM
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| 6. It appears to have 8 legs. Could it be an arachnid (a spider)?? |
| Gato Moteado
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Tue Sep-11-07 10:13 PM
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| 7. no, it was definitely a larva |
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believe me, at first i had no idea what it was. but on closer inspection i could see the legs underneath and watch it munch on the palm frond.
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| The Velveteen Ocelot
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Tue Sep-11-07 10:23 PM
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| 8. A Hag Moth caterpillar, I think. |
| Gato Moteado
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Tue Sep-11-07 10:29 PM
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| 9. hmmmm....similar but i don't think that's it |
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but maybe it's in the same family
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| The Velveteen Ocelot
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Tue Sep-11-07 10:31 PM
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| 10. There are a bunch of them, apparently; genus Phobetron. |
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Might be a cousin. Weird-looking thing.
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| Imalittleteapot
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Thu Sep-13-07 02:22 PM
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http://www.whatsthatbug.com/ If you send them a jpg they may be able to identify that incredible critter.
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Fri Apr 26th 2024, 07:08 PM
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