Category: Larva

BIG Caterpillar

I am always on the alert for turtles in the road and if conditions allow, I’ll stop and help the critter, usually a box turtle, cross safely. A few days ago as I drove up my mountain, along the twisty, steep, gravel road, I spotted something. Certainly not a turtle, but something I don’t recall ever stopping for in the past. Something that I never would have guessed I’d see from the driver’s seat of my truck. A HUGE caterpillar. My surprise only increased as I approached the caterpillar and saw what it looked like. Certainly he was a Chinese dragon all set for a New Year’s parade.

An aqua color of 1950s cars, with accents of bright, rich orange, and black. Regularly spaced black spikes along his body segments and much larger spiked horns/antlers of orange, tipped with black near his head. Yes, that looks like a Chinese dragon to me.

In reality though this critter is a Hickory Horned Devil Caterpillar, the larva of the Regal Moth, Citheronia regalis. In addition to his interesting color scheme, this guy is incredibly large. Think the size of a large hot dog. But it is a caterpillar that you don’t need to be frightened of. He will cause you no harm. If you see one, treat him with care, and guide him to a spot of soft dirt where he can achieve his goal of burrowing, where he will pupate over the winter.

Spiked horns on two segments above his head (his head is the little orange, button-like thing at the very right), bright, rich orange, and shiny black.

In this stage of his life he has been eating. Chomping down on the leaves of hickory, ash, persimmon, sweetgum, sycamore and walnut. No wonder he made his home here. This is what many of the trees in my woods are. No need to be concerned about what he is eating. There are not enough of these guys to be a concern and for the most part are not considered a pest. The Hickory Horned Devil is native to the eastern US from New Jersey to Missouri and on southward to east Texas and central Florida.

The Regal Moth will emerge from the ground as an adult in late June or early July. As an adult he will not eat, and will live about one week.

He will reach a wingspan of up to six inches. Looking like a cuddly, furry, off white and orange Teddy bear, he will be in search of a mate. Eggs hatch in six to ten days. The larval stage, the Hickory Horned Devil Caterpillar, lives for about 35 days.

Eyed Click Beetle

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A goal of my hike this morning was to find a cover shot for my Facebook timeline. I was collecting images of tree bark, lichen, and beautiful mosses, all possible candidates. At a mature sassafras tree, as I worked around some poison ivy vines, I came upon a surprise: two BIG eyes looking back at me. Turns out, it was an Eyed Click Beetle, Alaus oculatus, one mighty funny looking creature.

This beetle is pretty large, almost 2 inches long. He has enormous fake eyespots on his back, which are a means of protection. The eyespots and the pattern on his back are composed of scales, much like on the wings of butterflies. These eyespots are to startle predators, perhaps making them think that they have run into a critter much larger than the Eyed Click Beetle actually is. The Eyed Click Beetle’s real eyes, one on either side of its small head, are located at the base of its saw-toothed antennae.

eyed click beetle

The name “click beetle” comes from another means of protection. When a click beetle finds himself on his back, or when being held by a predator, the beetle will create an unnerving snapping or clicking sound by bending his head backwards and suddenly snapping it straight. This action creates the sound, and sends the click beetle several inches into the air. That is something that sure would shock me, if I wasn’t expecting it. The catapulting can put the beetle right side up, but if it doesn’t, he’ll try again until he is successful.

The larvae of most click beetles are called wireworms. Some of them are serious pests that feed on the roots of crops including potatoes, strawberries, corn and wheat, and also the roots of lawns. These destructive wireworms find their food by following the carbon dioxide produced by their foodplants in the soil. They often use preexisting tunnels to travel through the soil to get to their food. However, the larvae of the Eyed Click Beetle are well behaved predators, that prefer to eat caterpillars and the larvae of wood boring beetles and flies. The Eyed Click Beetle lives in the larva form (as a wireworm) for two to five years and spends that time underground or in rotting logs.

I’m hoping I’ll find another Eyed Click Beetle as I hike up my mountain tomorrow. Perhaps I can get him to do a catapult for me.

*Bloggers note:

This blog was originally posted in a slightly different form, in the summer of 2013. At that time, I was participating in a group blog (BeautifulWildlifeGarden.com), with smart, dear, nature loving friends. Unfortunately that website has gone belly up. I am resurrecting this post so that those of you who have not seen it, can read more of my ramblings.