Can
you identify what's in this photo?
Each Wednesday morning
on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page
the Lutherlyn Environmental
Education Program posts a photo.
Readers
have all morning and afternoon
to
make their best guess about what the photo is.
Around
6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.
Each
week's What is it Wednesday post
will
also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog,
after it is posted on Facebook,
sometimes
with additional bonus information.
In
addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday
on the
Nature of Lutherlyn blog,
we
will be reposting old editions,
creating
a What is it Wednesday archive.
This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on
September 29, 2021.
And
the answer is....
The imperial moth itself was a What is it Wednesday feature about a year ago. It is the largest moth species found in Pennsylvania!
The caterpillar is also one of the largest found in our area. It may be hard to tell from this photo, but this one was about 4 inches long (and caught our attention even as we were driving by on the entrance driveway). Though this one is an olive-green color, they can be found with many different color variations – shades of brown, orange, pink, salmon or green. Regardless of the coloration, imperial moth caterpillars all have white hairs (setae) along the whole body, spiky yellow horns on the front two body segments, and white dots along the sides. The caterpillar will burrow into the ground to pupate over the winter and emerge as adult moth late next summer.
The imperial moth is one of our favorites to see, and it was exciting to find that the caterpillar is just as striking and majestic!
Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on
Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when
they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!
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