Saddleback Caterpillar
Sibine stimulea
October 12, 2009
This was crawling on the rim of
my dogs' water dish out on the deck.
Would they have been in for an
unpleasant surprise had I not come
across this before they chose to
quench their thirst!
The urticating spines emanating
from the horns cause a major
"owee" when touched. So don't. Not
that anyone in their right mind would.
Like many of the Limacodidae moths,
the most impressive aesthetic expression
of their existence, from a human standpoint, lies in the larval stage.
I moved it to a nearby cherry tree, well out of reach of my terriers' fleshy sniffers.
October 12, 2010
Here we are exactly one year later with a cocoon. It's obviously not the same individual, but spun from a caterpillar I found on our redbud tree.
July 13, 2014
And here's an adult, lingering on the porch window from the night before.
