SANParks.org Forums

I please need help with the ID of the following caterpillars.







a close up of the above caterpillar.

These caterpillars were seen in Namaqua National Park (14-16 Sept). The brown hairy ones were by far the most common....more so around the town of Kamieskroon which is about 18km from NNP...although I did see a few in the Park itself. They seem to enjoy risking their lives by trying to cross the roads. I only had a once off sighting of the other two.

Thanks
Michele

I am still none the wiser with the above caterpillars...
And now for another seen in WCNP





Thanks !!!

Edit...this is the larve of a slug moth.This slug-like body of the larvae have stout stinging hairs which can give a severe sting..so don't go picking them up !!!!

And two more to add to my list of unidentified caterpillars. Both seen in the WCNP





Edit...I have finally ID'ed the above creature as the larva of the Cherry Spot Moth.

At this rate I will be able to publish a book of unidentified caterpillars

Michele,
I am sorry to say that these are just thumb-sucks. You know how it is with caterpillars; you know them or you don't. (Usually you don't!)
The top one looks like any of many caterpillars, and I really can't place it, though it looks familiar.
The second one looks as though it could be some kind of Lappet moth, Lasiocampidae, but I have never seen that one. I was wondering whether it was a Tussock moth (Lymantriidae) but the bristles at the tail don't look right to me. My guess at your auburn woolly-bear would be some kind of Tiger moth (Arctiidae).
The slug (Limacodidae) was the easy family, but which one, I have no idea. I don't know that family intimately (fortunately. As you say, they are a curse if they fall on you or you handle them carelessly.)
The second last one (hairy) I don't know. The cherry spot looks like the right ID to me,and it is closely related to the one I know as the Amaryllis moth, which drives indigenous flower gardeners to despair! Their caterpillars even look similar (though not the same!)
you said: "At this rate I will be able to publish a book of unidentified caterpillars"? Do so and I'll buy it! But a few tips:
If you want an ID, try to get some indication of the size, food plant etc. It doesn't always help, but it is a give-away for many.
(Incidentally, probably like you, my wife and I love caracals!)

OMW....thank you John for the most informative reply.
I noticed that you are fairly new to the forum..18 posts..so a very warm welcome to the forum as well



Agreed..I don't I get even more confused with the jargon used. Myself being a ex-maths/physics teacher I have no idea what a coxa, holometabolous and maxillae are.
It seems that most of these photos are that of moth larva...I have a field guide on moths and another on insects. Best I go shopping for one on moths



No wonder you don't know that family intimately ..my insect book tells me there are about 120 species of slug moths.



Now this one really has me confused...I am so sure that it is a cherry spot larva..saw many photos of it in my searchings on the internet but my insect book tells me that it does not occur along the West Coast . I will now research the Amarylis moth....



Yes..thank you for this tip...I have just realised that I have to look past the pretty caterpillar or the pretty flower. I come home with the photos in the hopes of Id'ing the flower or the gogga only to find out that I did not take any notice of the leaves, branches, size ..etc. I just love what I see through my macro lens that I forget about the boring bits around it. But my inquistive mind wants to know about what I have photographed I will make an effort to correct that in the future.



Oh yes I love caracals ....not sure if you have read my trip report but if you want to see one amazing caracal sighting check here
Again thank you for your input.

Much appreciated! A very rewarding forum!



You probably could profit by checking the introductory pages of the field guide to South African insects. It also would do no harm to make a few notes from the anatomy pages of library books on entomology. There are hundreds or thousands of technical terms, but as an amateur you only need a dozen or two.
Wikipedia will help a lot. on gutenberg there also are a number of free downloads including "Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology" by Smith.
If your background is indeed maths and physics, the sound scientific basis and logic are a tremendous (and, dare I say it, unusual) asset in studying the living world. Don't take what you see and what you hear as gospel. Use your thinker as well!




Gosh Caracal, that is a very modest family size for moths. Entomologists only start bugging their eyes at 1000 or so. And as for beetle families!!!






Well, I would not get too excited if I were you. There are several closely related moths, and some of them have been carried around and spread on nursery plants.





Now, don't get me started on the little things and the surrounding things! It was a physicist, (Rutherford remember?) who said something like that physics was the only science and the rest was all stamp collecting. Actually physics is as much stamp collecting as any other branch of science, (you cannot do physics with out a good mental store of relevant facts and connections, no matter how much calculation you brag about doing!)
But certainly anyone in chemistry, biology, Earth sciences and so on, tars himself with the stamp-collector brush the moment he collects a new fact without thinking about its connections and contexts.
If that sounds like hard work, the good news is that it enriches your view of your world unbelievably. The very fact that you go into a park with your macro lens at the ready prepares you for many times more pleasure and profit from the entering the park than most people get from their entire trip. Work at it. It is worth it.
I did go and have a look at your trip report, rather briefly I am afraid, time and all that! However some of your shots are terrific and the sequence of caracal shots was unbelievable. I wish you just as good success with all your future trips.
I live in Somerset West. If you feel like giving us a call, don't let me stop you!
Cheers,
Jon

Thank you John...for the reply.
Just got back from Namaqualand..with more unidentified bugs and caterpillars!!!!
Will be posting some pics soon !!!!

Some more help needed with ID please. All taken in Namaqua National Park
First of all this one looks very similar to the very first caterpillar I posted in this thread. Both seen in Namaqua NP...very similar....possibly a younger/older version or male/female version.

#1

#2

Seen along the road to Soebatsfontein...many of them in thorn trees.

#3

Seen in the rockery near reception

#4

There were many suchlike nests of caterpillars...seen all over the park. They reacted to movement..especially when my shadow was cast over the nest.

#5

Many of these were flying around the lights at night time. They played dead during the day !

Hi Caracal,
Lovely shots, as usual!


Doesn't look the same sp to me, but does look related. Same difference: dunno. Sorry!

#2 Looks to me like Imbrasia tyrrhea, the Thorntree Emperor moth.





These might be either Tent caterpillars of the family Lasiocampidae or Processionary caterpillars of the family Thaumetopoeidae.
Sorry to be such poor support this time!
But thanks for showing the photies!
Cheers,
Jon

Thank you John..apologies I did not get notification that this thread had been updated...
But at least I now have some more names to google.....

Please help me identify this caterpillar.
What type is it and what will it turn into?

Hi SportEvent...

I'm almost 100% sure that it is the Caterpillar of the Death's Head Hawk Moth which is very common throughout Southern Africa Great pic!!!!

It is way bigger than it looks on the photo.
Is it at all dangerous and when do they turn into something else?

Thanks, I got all the answers from: http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/lep ... tropos.htm

Just updating. I placed the caterpillar back in it's tree in my garden. Hopefully nothing eats it.

Can anyone help with an ID for this caterpillar? Seen at Cape Point in September 2011.