On Throw Back Thursday:
More amazing than a Transformer toy that changes from a robot into a spaceship, this woolly bear caterpillar will wrap himself in a cocoon and spend the winter transforming into a moth.
So will this hickory tussock caterpillar …
… and this Promethea caterpillar.
Odd and ugly caterpillars become beautiful — or boring — moths.
Who becomes what?
Chuck Tague’s 2010 guide to caterpillars and moths has the answer in photographs. See A Game of Cat and Moth: caterpillars and what they become.
(photo credits: wooly bear caterpillar by Christopher Jones from Wikimedia; click on the photo to see the original. hickory tussock moth caterpillar by Kate St. John. promethea moth caterpillar by Kate St. John)
Very cool. I enjoyed that. Thanks Kate!
Agree, very cool! Just incredible, that metamorphosis. And the before and after can both be so beautiful and captivating. Amazing.
Nice! I saw an Imperial caterpillar in WVa. It was a big guy, 4 inches long. I could have used Chuck’s game of Cat and Moth!