12 November 2012
Monday macrobug: big green worm
Posted by Callan
Found this caterpillar in the dirt the other day outside my house…
Here it is (in the palm of my leather work gloves – the width of a finger may be seen blurrily in the background):
I spent some time looking for matches on Bug Guide and in Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw. The book wasn’t as helpful as the website this time. Looks a lot like this one (though the lighting conditions of the photos are different) and this one and this one. There are others that also look similar, like this one and this one and this one and this one. Maybe the genus Lithophane? I’ve spent almost 40 minutes trying to ID this caterpillar from these photos, and I think I’ll have to leave it at that.
Callan Bentley is an assistant professor of geology at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia. He is particularly interested in structural geology and the evolution of the Appalachian mountain belt. Callan draws cartoons and writes for EARTH magazine. He lives in the Fort Valley of Virginia.
Matt O'Donnell said on 14 November 2012
There’s the possibility that it’s not a caterpillar, but some other larva like a beetle grub. The folks at bugguide.net are a friendly and helpful bunch and could probably point you in the right direction if you are still curious about the id. I’ve posted several images there of “caterpillars” that turned out to be beetle or sawfly larvae.