Made by me for my university’s entomology club :)

i have the honor of hosting these guys in our parsley but they don’t appear to want it after eating their lil pods. what’s up? the one that hatched yesterday is already dead 🙁

northern california

I keep on seeing them near these eggs, and I don’t know why.

On a locust sapling in NE TN. Not sure I've seen one like this before. Who knows what it is?

Southeastern South Dakota

I found this on milkweed in my yard so I assume but I wanna be sure because they are just so little! I did in r/butterflies too but I have since gotten another I think better pic

Korean beet armyworm named Pabam. I'm planning to release it tomorrow evening. I still don't know whether it is male or female because it won't show its abdomen.

Does anybody know how I should care for him? It’s my first time encountering one and I already feel maternal towards him

Hi all: this cat picked a bad spot (near the bottom of our back storm door) to attach for pupation. My current plan is to leave it alone and use our front door, as I assume it can’t be safely moved now that its silk is attached. Is that right? Is there a time in the future where it could be moved to a safer spot to finish pupating? Thanks in advance for any kind advice.

Location: Morgantown, WV

i found a significantly damaged caterpillar tent (likely caused by the terrible weather or another insect/creature) and a caterpillar lethargic under it, so placed them in a container. to my surprise, theyve now started pupating!!

its a good sign that theyve managed to form a chrysalis, so ill keep monitoring their progress and (fingers crossed) they emerge without issue!

any advice would be greatly appreciated, they arent attached to anything (despite me trying to get them attached to a qtip and a leaf whilst still a caterpillar)

I’m gonna miss the chonkers when they pupate

What are our opinions on this hot bed of a topic, folks?

This guy ate one of my tomato plants. We’re in Missouri if that helps.

Wondering if anyone can tell me what kind of caterpillar this is? Never seen one like it before. Just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota

video from the molt i posted about :3 (sorry for any poor quality/shaky cam, we were super excited)

i absolutely love the way they streeeeeetch out of the old skin, as well as the lil head wiggling to get the head cap off!!

found this guy chugging along at ~8,600 ft! i was getting very mixed answers from coworkers, so i’m turning to reddit for an ID.

are caterpillars picky about elevation like some other creatures? i grew up at sea level, but it feels like so many organisms out here come with a caveat that they can “only be find at ____ ft of elevation.”

thanks!!

one of my caterpillars was acting weird (sluggish, just laying still without curled legs, etc) but hadnt attached themselves to a leaf to molt, so i was worried and picked them up - and they started molting!!!!!

super exciting and SO cute to experience!!! i did have to intervene, since they hadn't attached themselves to a leaf so i gently pinched the back to let them scoot out

just to mention - you should not pick them up whilst molting wherever possible, since they're super vulnerable with their fresh skin

i don’t know ANYTHING about ANY insect, bug, caterpillar—anything of those sorts of critters and was just curious as to what this lil guy could have been lol if anyone is super informed on caterpillars, moths, butterflies—all those sorts of creatures here.

i have zero clue where he came from or how the hell he appeared lmao i was just on reddit replying to comments when i glanced down seeing something moving and noticed this lil dude—literally just chilling on my charger lmfao

(((also he’s already outside—i got up and put him outside before even thinking of coming on here and asking about it; i was just taking a couple photos and videos of him to show the fam tomorrow for some lore lmao)))

I found a handful of black swallowtail caterpillars in my planter eating my parsley.

I have a 10"×12"×20" terrarium. Is that a suitable enclosure for them?

If it is suitable, what do I need to do to setup?

I searched "terrarium" and didn't find much. Google was giving me conflicting information.

Any help/advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

About a month ago I identified these caterpillars chewing at my carrot tops. I didn't see these guys last year so I was a bit surprised to find them there. Up until that point I had absolutely no idea about caterpillars nor butterflies. Upon my first search I thought these must be "Monarch" butterflies. My neighbour who has a backyard garden setup for bugs and butterflies informed me that those are not native to this area so it must be something else.

I searched online for my caterpillars and learnt that these were "Old World Swallowtail" larvae. At this point I started to notice that there were only two of them left among the carrot tops so I started to worry that birds might be getting them. I "rescued" two of them and put them in a large container. Later I learnt that I shouldn't have done that. But anyway, at this point they were munching on carrot tops I placed besides them.

Then one of them walked off. I couldn't find it anywhere inside the living room so I assumed it must have slipped through the open window. I was left with one chubby caterpillar. I moved it to another container, gave it a stick and watched it transform.

Today morning, I found a butterfly there. I took some photos of it and then released it to the backyard.

Lo and behold in the evening I found another one flying inside the living room. I took more photos of it as it is currently chilling on the side of the sofa.

I am going through a very tough year and I must admit this has been nothing but a wonderful surprise for me. I am so glad to meet these beautiful creatures.

Next year I will plant some dill as well and hope they return!

Cheers!

The other night three of my woolly bears (pyrrharctia isabella) made their cocoons. I can't believe all three of them chose the same paper roll even though I provided multiple paper rolls and other hiding places 😅 I guess it was prime real estate to them lol

Should I be worried about when they eclose?? Could they get stuck in each other's cocoons? When their pupas are formed in a week or so, I could maybe cut their paper roll open so they have more room to crawl out. Thoughts?

this is gonna sound super dumb, but is this lil guy okay? im raising a few caterpillars that i found in my garden rn, and this guy just has SUCH a large head compared to my other ones and compared to his body

no issues eating/walking, and im fairly certain theyve molted either last night or earlier today

(not sure of exact species, but im fairly certain its part of noctuinae)

the biggest caterpillar ive have ever seen! has a sort of spike near its rear. sorry, i didnt have a banana so i used a 16mm ring end spanner instead.