can anyone identify this

[benny king]

http://giantstepsdistro.com/pics/creepycrawly/

i was standing out in front of my house and i felt something crawling 
on my big toe.  i did a reactive kick and tossed whatever it was off of 
my foot.  then i looked down and saw the biggest caterpillar i've ever 
seen.  it was probably around 3" long while stationary.  it had semi 
translucent skin where you could see a vein of some sort pumping fluid 
along it's "spine".  the small head popped in and out of the body when 
it felt threatened and it reared it's phoney head and remained 
completely stationary until it felt safe again.   it moved at what 
seemed an incredible pace for a caterpillar.  it had purple markings on 
it's green skin as well as a yellow and black stripe on the foremost 
crack between the head and the body.  there were small "feet" which 
almost looked sharp that it used to pull itself forward while the rest 
were suctioning feet.

i am not even really a bug enthusiast although i do find them 
fascinating but i have never seen anything like this and would 
appreciate any information regarding it and especially what it will 
turn into!

any links on the web would be great too.

thanks for your time and take care,
benny

p.s.  i apologize for the size of the photos.  if you need smaller ones 
then let me know.  i also apologize for the quality as i could only use 
my digital camera because the thing was moving pretty quickly.  i tried 
to get every angle as well as shots of it's head and underside.


 
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