Observation date: May 01, 2015
Submitted by: seeclyde
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes: Saw the caterpillar crawling across my lawn toward a Sweetgum tree trunk. Watched it change from caterpillar to moth.
Status: Resident
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: May 01, 2015
Coordinator notes: Note to submitter: that was not a caterpillar you saw but a newly emerged moth from a cocoon probably in leaf litter by the Sweet Gum, a food plant of the caterpillar from last summer/fall. The newly emerged moth has a distended body full of fluids (making it look a bit like a caterpillar) and it will crawl to a branch or tree trunk and pump that fluid from the body into its wings. You were lucky to catch it at just the right moment. SAT
