8.01.2008

A Prickly Fellow

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Euclea delphinii, spiny oak-slug moth caterpillar
It's a cutie, but don't handle it. Those spines can cause you some minor grief.
Caterpillars are a constant source of amazement -- such variation.

6 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

What an amazing thing! I enlarged it and stared at it for quite some time. I don't know that I would have guessed it was a caterpillar if I found it outside.
Neat-neat-neat.

swamp4me said...

Lynne,
There is tremendous variation within this species -- the color can vary from green like this one to almost pink! Awesome, eh?

Hugh Griffith said...

Fantastic. It looks like a cross between a tardigrade and the cat bus (http://collateraldamage.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/cat_bus.jpg) with a fuzzy bedroom slipper thrown in.

swamp4me said...

Ah, Hugh, you do make me laugh!

Crowe said...

It's a good job some things are only little. Imagine bumping into a 6ft version of that down a dark alley late at night ...

swamp4me said...

Hey, wait a minute, Crowe...I think I saw that movie... ;)