Stand beneath host trees and shrubs and look up for hanging caterpillars. Sometimes caterpillars will hang themselves off the sides of leaves and branches or hang by silken threads, especially if they feel at risk for danger. Part 2. Wash your hands. Caterpillars are vulnerable to bacterial infections and can become sick simply through our touching them.
Be gentle. Handle caterpillars with the utmost care as they are fragile and can be easily killed. Be careful not to drop them, as even dropping them a small distance can kill them. Caterpillars cling tightly to the surfaces on which they walk. If you try to pick up a walking caterpillar, you might tear off their prolegs.
If you wish to move a caterpillar allow it to walk on to its new surface on its own. If you are keeping a caterpillar and want to change its host plant, put a new host plant into its container and give the caterpillar a few hours to move over to the new host plant before you remove the old one.
Avoid caterpillars with branching spines. Most stinging caterpillars are brightly colored. Know how to treat caterpillar stings. Caterpillar stings are similar to bee stings in that they are generally not fatal, but severe reactions can occur. If you have a history of asthma or any allergies, or allergic reactions such as difficulty breathing or severe swelling occur, seek medical help immediately. Part 3. Choose a container for your caterpillar to live in.
Many people would prefer to leave caterpillars in their natural habitats, but if you feel comfortable taking one home, make sure you have a suitable container for it. Suitable containers for caterpillars include aquariums or even one-gallon jars.
The top of the living space should be breathable and securely fastened: cheesecloth or a thin-mesh screen will work well. Do not simply poke holes into a jar lid, as this will not provide enough fresh air for the caterpillars.
In addition, if they crawl on to the lid the sharp edges of the holes may cut the caterpillars open. Add sticks to the container. These need to be securely fastened and strong enough for the caterpillars to crawl on and pupate on. Note that not all caterpillars hang upside down to pupate, however. Some moth caterpillars dig down into the soil to pupate. Feed the caterpillar the correct plants.
Caterpillars will only certain types of plants, and this differs based on species. Ensure that the leaves you feed your caterpillar are fresh. If not, make sure you are within close range of their host plants so that you can retrieve fresh leaf clippings for your caterpillar every day. You can keep leaves in water to preserve them, but do not keep the water in the same container as the caterpillar as the caterpillar could fall into it and drown. Check your leaves.
Caterpillars like a humid environment. If the cage looks dry you can give it a few spritzes with filtered or distilled water, or even rain water collected from outside. Just be sure not to over-water the container, otherwise it could start growing mould. Clean the container every day. Add soil to the container bottom if your caterpillar will pupate underground.
Some types of caterpillar pupate underground and require soil to do so. Know the lifecycle of butterflies and moths. In its final instar the caterpillar becomes a pupa for butterflies this is also known as a chrysalis.
In many moth species the pupa stage will involve a cocoon or the caterpillar burrowing down into soil to pupate. After anywhere from a few days to a few months, a butterfly or moth will emerge from the pupa. Its goal is then to mate and reproduce before dying. Know how long butterflies and moths live. The lifespan of a butterfly can be anywhere from a few days to nine months, depending on its environment and ability to avoid predators.
The average lifespan estimate of butterflies is one month. Part 4. Look for milkweed plants in dry climates and locations. The Milkweed plant is host to the Monarch butterfly species, which is one of the most common butterfly species in North America. Milkweed is a tall perennial with large, tough leaves that are usually long and oval-shaped. The plant usually grows in dryer locations and can be found in fields and along roadsides. Of the 75 types of milkweed that grow across the U.
They are small, flat and reddish-brown, with silky hair sprouting out of one end. Search for spicebush plants in moist woods and marshes. Spicebush is a small dark-green shrub that features oval-shaped leaves and serves as the host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly species. The plant thrives beneath larger trees located in forests and woods, and grows shiny red berries. Look for Paw-Paw trees in any moist area throughout eastern North America.
Paw-Paw trees are the host plants for Zebra Swallowtails, and can generally be found throughout the eastern region of North America near creeks, ravines, and steep hillsides. The Paw-Paw has large foliage that appears tropical and bears large pale fruits of the same name.
Search for herb plants such as dill, parsley, and fennel. The Black Swallowtail is attracted to herbal plants such as these, which can be helpful if you want to grow herbs at your home for the sake of finding caterpillars. They eat a wide variety of common plants, many of them considered weeds, and they make no real effort to hide—you can often find them on the top of a leaf in the middle of the day, happily eating. They are typically pale yellow or orange, but some individuals are much darker.
The fur is thick but not spiny, and they are very "firendly" —they don't seem to mind being handled and will crawl over your hands some people with super-sensitive skin may have a mild reaction to the fur.
The adult is a beautiful white moth that you may find in the summer around your porch lights. This species, Automeris io , belongs to the group of giant silk moths that also includes the cecropia and polyphemus moths. This is one of the few caterpillars in our area that has irritating spines for protection, which really interested me when I was a kid. I had read all about the animal's "stinging spines" in my trusty Golden Nature Guide.
I found one when I was about twelve and brushed the spines against my arm on purpose to see what all the fuss was about. Did it sting? This beautiful caterpillar turns into a beautiful moth. The false eye-spots on the hind wing are very realistic and come complete with reflected-light markings, making them extra realistic.
These huge caterpillars can often be found chowing down on your tomato plants, sometimes to the point where the entire plant is eaten. The tobacco and tomato hornworms are very similar and often eat both plants, sweet potatoes, and other crops. They produce similar moths: huge brown bombers that are such good fliers they have earned the nickname "hawk moths. This cool-looking little guy is the larval stage of the tiger moth Euchaetes egle.
There are relatively few Lepidoptera species that feed on milkweed, which has poisonous sap that may make the caterpillars poisonous to birds. Like the monarch, milkweed tiger moth caterpillars eat nothing but milkweed and spend all of their time on the plant, living and moving in small groups of up to ten.
They're not at all hard to find on the host plant—their bright coloring is thought to be a kind of warning to predators not to even bother eating them. For such a showy caterpillar, the adult milkweed tiger moth is pretty plain—unmarked, light gray wings with a spotted abdomen.
This bright orange beauty is one form of a somewhat common type of sphinx moth larva—the other form is green and, while beautiful, is not quite as striking as this one. I've included this caterpillar mainly because I think it's so beautiful, as is the moth it turns into.
This caterpillar in the photo may be a tropical version of the North American pandorus species—it's a little hard to tell. But if you find one, you can be sure you've found a truly special insect. This caterpillar eats elm leaves and is known in some places as "the spiny elm caterpillar.
This beautiful insect is native to the US and Europe. In the UK, this species is incredibly rare, and entomologists can spend a lifetime waiting for one to show up it's known as "the Camberwell Beauty" in England. Up close, the upper side of the mourning cloak is gorgeous. The underside is considerably more drab; the dark colors give the insect its common name because early entomologists thought it looked like the drab cloaks worn by mourners at funerals.
Mourning cloaks often winter in a shelter and begin flying on the first warm days of spring. Keep an eye out for these big, beautiful butterflies on warm spring days, even when there are still patches of snow on the ground. These cool-looking caterpillars produce a quite plain and inconspicuous moth. They eat almost anything, including some decorative trees like hawthorn that cities tend to plant along roads and in plazas.
Tussock moth caterpillars get their name from the little tufts of fur along their backs; apparently these are called "tussocks" in some parts of the world. With its awesome pompadour and general slug-like build, this animal is sometimes referred to as the "Elvis Caterpillar. The sting of the puss moth is usually mild, though sensitive individuals can develop a more intense reaction. Megalopygidae moths are relatively uncommon, and if you see one you're lucky—but don't touch!
Nota bene: There's a moth in the UK called the Puss Moth, but it's in a different family Notodontidae and the caterpillars do not have stinging hairs. The Genista broom moth caterpillar can be very destructive on some plants, especially to Baptisia species of plant, including the pea-like wild indigo plant. Genista caterpillars generally feed in groups. While they are rather small and slim individually, as a group they can eat a tremendous amount.
The moth is a nondescript brown insect in the subfamily Pyraustinae , which has hundreds of members that most people barely notice. You will likely never see the copper underwing adult moth, but you may find the caterpillar eating the leaves of many trees and shrubs, including apple, basswood, hawthorn, maple, oak, walnut, raspberry, and grape. This is a common species, but it's most often found as a caterpillar.
The moth hides during the day in cracks and bark, so people don't usually see it. Even if you do see the adult, the plain brown pattern on the upper wings will probably not catch your attention. The hindwings are a pretty copper color, hence the common name.
The big green caterpillar is sometimes mistaken for a hornworm, but it only has a hump, not a horn. In fact, this species gets its scientific name, Amphipyra pyramidoides, from its pyramid-like hump. This species is related to the tomato hornworm.
It is part of a large family of moths known as the Sphingidae , or hawk moths. The white-lined sphinx is a big moth that flies like a hummingbird, hovering in front of flowers to drink nectar through its long, flexible "tongue. If you're outside and it's getting dark and a big moth swoops by to hover in front of some flowers, it's almost certainly a hawkmoth of some kind.
The caterpillars come in several forms: Some are green, as pictured, and some are brown and brightly patterned. This very common species is often one of the first butterflies you see on the wing in springtime. Research the types of plants that your caterpillar species prefers and learn what they look like and where they grow. If you are not searching for a specific type of caterpillar, then just walk out to your front yard and start to look closely at plant leaves.
If you are looking for a specific kind of caterpillar, look for host plants. Pay close attention to immature, tender leaves of young plants and look for leaves that appear to be eaten, damaged or curled. Turn over leaves to investigate the underside for signs of caterpillars, like droppings or eggs, recommends Save Our Monarchs. Caterpillars can often be found munching on flower buds or traveling on plant stems.
Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper notes that monarch eggs are sometimes laid on flower buds and stems of milkweed plants. After it is hatched, a single monarch caterpillar can eat all of the leaves off a milkweed plant.
If you see signs of caterpillar life on a plant but do not see the larvae on the stem, leaves or flower buds, then check the ground below the plant. Sometimes, if a young caterpillar senses danger, it may drop off a plant to hide from a predator.
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