Enormous caterpillar sighting! - what could it be?

[Xi Wang]

Hi Jeff,

This sounds most likely like a Saturniidae larva.  Check out
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/moths/chklist/states/counties/pa_101.htm

Cheers,
Xi

Jeff wrote:

> I've spent a few decades in Bucks County, PA, just outside
> Philadelphia. I have never seen an invertebrate quite like this one in
> this region.
>
> It had been spotted through a window crawling down the trunk of a tree
> sitting some yards away from the house. The color and sheer size of
> the caterpillar made it easy to see against the wrinkled brown bark
> despite the distance from the house.
>
> The caterpillar seemed to be as thick around and heavy as an adult
> human finger and very nearly as long. It was an almost luminescent
> green with subtle translucent patches. Its head seemed to be wreathed
> or hidden in dark bristles. There were scattered bristles or spikes
> poking out of its flanks and back at regular intervals but they were
> greenish and almost invisible. There were no distinctive horns or
> other markings on the insect.
>
> I herded the caterpillar onto a stick and relocated it to some bushes
> in front of the house, where the local juvenile delinquents were less
> likely to see it. I noted that the larvae seemed to probe the wood of
> the stick as though testing it for edible qualities. The caterpillar
> was actually heavy.
>
> I think it was larger than any Monarch or Swallowtail larvae and
> wondered if it could be an infant giant moth (perhaps a Luna or
> Goliath, if they are native to this region).
>
> Jeff


 
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