Friday, July 16, 2010

The Very Hungry Caterpillar! (Antheraea Polyphemus Moth/Caterpillar)

I was going to let our two cats Beatrix and Tobias out for a little sun this afternoon, until I discovered the fat and cozy big green caterpillar, similar to the looks of Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" hanging out in the backyard!

Not knowing what type of creature he was, I crowned him "The caterpillar of the future" How amazing it was to meet this little guy.

I didn't want the cats to hurt him, so I let him carry on his merry little way. I hope he finds all the apples and oranges and everything else he needs to turn into a beautiful butterfly... or moth in this case ;)



Did you know that the wingspan of these particular moths (also known as silk moths) can be 6 inches long or 15 cm? Insane big! :D

It's funny because this is the exact moth that landed on my leg when I was about 7 or 8 years old and I screamed my guts out as I thought it was biting me. At that age, this type of moth would look like a huge flying kite that was rather fuzzy and Owl-looking!

Maybe now, he reincarnated back to a caterpillar so I know all about him for his big moth debut when he comes back to visit me again :)

I thought this was interesting from Wikipedia:
"The Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus) is a North American member of the family Saturniidae, the giant silk moths.[1] It is a tan colored moth, with an average wingspan of 15 cm (6 inches). The most notable feature of the moth is its large, purplish eyespots on its two hindwings. The eye spots are where it gets its name – from the Greek myth of the Cyclops Polyphemus. The caterpillar of the Polyphemus Moth can eat 86,000 times its weight at emergence in a little less than two months. It is widespread throughout much of North America, from southern Canada to parts of Mexico."

Check out my video, below!
 

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