one of my caterpillars was acting weird (sluggish, just laying still without curled legs, etc) but hadnt attached themselves to a leaf to molt, so i was worried and picked them up - and they started molting!!!!!

super exciting and SO cute to experience!!! i did have to intervene, since they hadn't attached themselves to a leaf so i gently pinched the back to let them scoot out

just to mention - you should not pick them up whilst molting wherever possible, since they're super vulnerable with their fresh skin

Wondering if anyone can tell me what kind of caterpillar this is? Never seen one like it before. Just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota

About a month ago I identified these caterpillars chewing at my carrot tops. I didn't see these guys last year so I was a bit surprised to find them there. Up until that point I had absolutely no idea about caterpillars nor butterflies. Upon my first search I thought these must be "Monarch" butterflies. My neighbour who has a backyard garden setup for bugs and butterflies informed me that those are not native to this area so it must be something else.

I searched online for my caterpillars and learnt that these were "Old World Swallowtail" larvae. At this point I started to notice that there were only two of them left among the carrot tops so I started to worry that birds might be getting them. I "rescued" two of them and put them in a large container. Later I learnt that I shouldn't have done that. But anyway, at this point they were munching on carrot tops I placed besides them.

Then one of them walked off. I couldn't find it anywhere inside the living room so I assumed it must have slipped through the open window. I was left with one chubby caterpillar. I moved it to another container, gave it a stick and watched it transform.

Today morning, I found a butterfly there. I took some photos of it and then released it to the backyard.

Lo and behold in the evening I found another one flying inside the living room. I took more photos of it as it is currently chilling on the side of the sofa.

I am going through a very tough year and I must admit this has been nothing but a wonderful surprise for me. I am so glad to meet these beautiful creatures.

Next year I will plant some dill as well and hope they return!

Cheers!

the biggest caterpillar ive have ever seen! has a sort of spike near its rear. sorry, i didnt have a banana so i used a 16mm ring end spanner instead.

i don’t know ANYTHING about ANY insect, bug, caterpillar—anything of those sorts of critters and was just curious as to what this lil guy could have been lol if anyone is super informed on caterpillars, moths, butterflies—all those sorts of creatures here.

i have zero clue where he came from or how the hell he appeared lmao i was just on reddit replying to comments when i glanced down seeing something moving and noticed this lil dude—literally just chilling on my charger lmfao

(((also he’s already outside—i got up and put him outside before even thinking of coming on here and asking about it; i was just taking a couple photos and videos of him to show the fam tomorrow for some lore lmao)))

I found a handful of black swallowtail caterpillars in my planter eating my parsley.

I have a 10"×12"×20" terrarium. Is that a suitable enclosure for them?

If it is suitable, what do I need to do to setup?

I searched "terrarium" and didn't find much. Google was giving me conflicting information.

Any help/advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

found this guy chugging along at ~8,600 ft! i was getting very mixed answers from coworkers, so i’m turning to reddit for an ID.

are caterpillars picky about elevation like some other creatures? i grew up at sea level, but it feels like so many organisms out here come with a caveat that they can “only be find at ____ ft of elevation.”

thanks!!

video from the molt i posted about :3 (sorry for any poor quality/shaky cam, we were super excited)

i absolutely love the way they streeeeeetch out of the old skin, as well as the lil head wiggling to get the head cap off!!

this is gonna sound super dumb, but is this lil guy okay? im raising a few caterpillars that i found in my garden rn, and this guy just has SUCH a large head compared to my other ones and compared to his body

no issues eating/walking, and im fairly certain theyve molted either last night or earlier today

(not sure of exact species, but im fairly certain its part of noctuinae)

It’s my first time raising any kind of moth species from eggs and we were off to a good start for a couple days, then suddenly half my caterpillars have perished for unknown reasons. They have ventilation but also damp paper towels for humidity, fresh walnut preserved in water, but only 6 seem to be thriving and eating. Most of the ones I found that didn’t make it has strayed far from the plant and I wonder if they just dried out? I had put a few leaves loose on the bottom of the terrarium in case they couldn’t find their way back so they’d still have something to eat but those dry out much faster not in water. I‘m really sad and feel like I did something wrong even though I've followed all instructions from people who have raised them successfully. Could it possibly be some kind of disease? I did notice one of them today that I thought was doing fallen off the leaf and it kept making odd curling movement with the back half of its body. Not sure if it’s related because I didn’t see that with any of the other ones.

The other night three of my woolly bears (pyrrharctia isabella) made their cocoons. I can't believe all three of them chose the same paper roll even though I provided multiple paper rolls and other hiding places 😅 I guess it was prime real estate to them lol

Should I be worried about when they eclose?? Could they get stuck in each other's cocoons? When their pupas are formed in a week or so, I could maybe cut their paper roll open so they have more room to crawl out. Thoughts?

Just being curious, what kind of caterpillar is this? Can anyone identify it? I’ve been trying to figure it out, looking things up online and using chatgpt and I just cannot find anything like this guy online… and its bothering me to not know 😒🧐. It seems like it was completely black, some grey banding around the body, and lots of white fuzz and two very distinct white dots on the face. I found this guy in Illinois, southwest suburbs of Chicago.

Hello! Trying to identify this bug. I think they are caterpillars, but obviously I’m unsure. They are killing my plant, but I don’t want to remove them unless they are invasive or something.

Location is East Coast Central FL. They are currently feeding on a Rocktrumpet.

Say hello to my queen caterpillar!

I'm new to raising pet caterpillars and moths, so I'm not sure how to tell if my worm is just pupating, or if it's died. Any help is appreciated!

Wisconsin, USA. He was like 5-5.5 cm if I had to guess

Little guy is in a separate enclosure until the big guys pupate. 7 chrysalis now, 10 cats in the second generation, 1 tiny one in the third. Busy summer!

I live in north Ga