Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar, 4th Instar - Papilio troilus

Judging from the size and the bulging eye spots, I think this is a 4th instar cat.

Habitat: Mixed forest

comments (3)

Flavio

Lion

Stunning! Are those big black spots real eyes!? Posted 3 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks! And, nope! Those are false eyes! The real eyes (simple eyes called stemmata) are on the head capsule (the pale green part all the way on the left end of the caterpillar). The eyes are tiny and are the small, light brownish dots near the bottom of the head. Posted 3 years ago

Flavio

Lion

What an extraordinary disguise!! Amazing... Posted 3 years ago

The Spicebush Swallowtail

The Spicebush Swallowtail is a common black swallowtail butterfly found in North America, also known as the Green-Clouded butterfly. It has two subspecies, "Papilio troilus troilus" and "Papilio troilus ilioneus", the latter found mainly in the Florida peninsula.

Info 23 0

Similar species: Moths And Butterflies

Species identified by Christine Young