Can anyone identify this caterpillar?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 01-08-2010 10:46pm #1

I saw this guy recently and was amazed by the colours. My internet searching suggests it's an emperor moth, but all the sites say they spots are yellow/orange, but this one had bright pink spots. Anyone got any ideas?

Improbable · 01-08-2010 10:58pm

on second thought, i was completely wrong. I still think its one of the swallowtail family though. Probably from the genus Papilio

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 01-08-2010 11:12pm

The picture you posted first does look a bit like it but again it has yellow/orange spots on them, these were bright pink. I wonder is it possible their colours can be affected by their environment/diet?

Improbable · 01-08-2010 11:16pm

The colours can indeed be affected by diet.

Improbable · 01-08-2010 11:48pm

You might be right about it being a small emperor moth actually. They can indeed have pink markings like below:

Don't know about the hairiness but i think it fits more with the markings being slightly raised which i think i can see in your photograph.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 02-08-2010 12:26am

Improbable wrote: »

You might be right about it being a small emperor moth actually. They can indeed have pink markings like below:

Don't know about the hairiness but i think it fits more with the markings being slightly raised which i think i can see in your photograph.

Yep, they were slightly raised. From all the looking I've done it seems most likely that it's an Emperor moth. I was hoping it was something rare and amazing, but alas it seems to be a pretty common one :rolleyes:

Can anyone identify this caterpillar?

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