I only googled....
It was hard to find a pic with the right angle to see the sides.
I'm shocked I found it!

Jessie, your caterpillar might be an Imperial Moth Caterpillar, Eacles imperialis. The caterpillars vary in looks.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/20...
http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

I must admit when I was looking at your pictures, I was wondering if I was looking at the front or the back end of the caterpillar.

I'm not sure what your's is eating but is says they eat from a wide variety of trees.

Ann, I saw your caterpillar the other day on this site that you and other Florida folks might like: http://www.pbase.com/dydmd/ins...

Now THAT was a good angle for it!

Ahh...caterpillar ID. Ok, Jack is right; that's an Imperial Moth. They come in several color varieties. We raised the brown ones at MOSI this year. The other is a Tersa Sphinx Moth. They eat pentas. Are there pentas nearby? Oh, and they come in green and brown. I usually get the green ones.

I just got home after Dad pulled me out of a ditch. Bird watching gone wrong. I'll be back soon with pictures!

I saw 4 Monarchs in the back yard today; additionally noted Orange Sulphur alba form, Sulphurs, Whites, a Pearl Crescent, and a couple of small moths. I took too many pics, been trying to narrow the selection down. Here's some of them -













Monarch and a White


Monarch & an Orange Sulphur (alba form)

Nice caterpillar talk , Love the Monarch on the pink aster . I have tried and failed a few times with those ..
Here is my throw in , One Monarch , the first in about a week
female Monarch

I did see a Red spotted Purple flying through and a few others , only I am still at " See Butterfly" "Get Photo of Butterfly" Being two entirely different things .

J, those are terrific photos of the monarchs flocking to the asters! As someone who spent a very long time scouring the database for photos of pollinators enjoying plants (so I could use them in my butterfly gardening article), I say--upload these to the database so they're available to other article writers!!

Love your photo, too, Jim!

Two Monarch chrysalises now and a third in J position.

1) Cat #1 forming his chrysalis while Cat #2 wanders behind him looking for a good spot
2) Cat #2 about midway through pupation--you can see his caterpillar skin splitting away as he wriggles out of it
3) Cat #2 almost done wiggling out of his skin

Beautiful, Jmorth!!

Out for a time today and spied a few butterflies.

I think this is a Hackberry Emperor who lost part of his wings, poor thing.



I think this little cutie is Pyrgus communis, Common Checkered Skipper ( Sweetscent, Pluchia odorata)



Clouded skipper? on Rockrose



Another unkown skipper on Rockrose. Longdash?

Awesome, Catmint!! That is so neat.

great photos, Christine!!

Great science Nature photo's Catmint20906

Very nice wildflowers , Great nature we rarely see ,

Moths keep following me through the door .

?
?
Spinx moth

Ooh, great pictures everyone! Good variety today. Jack, there is no such thing as too many photos. I hope you're fattening up those Monarchs good!

Robin, point those Monarchs south when they emerge!

Let's see, it rained today and I slept all day so that kind of worked out. I got up to feed everyone. Now, some of you know the story of the greatest caterpillar that ever lived. For those who don't, I once had this Giant Swallowtail. I could tell it was getting ready to gut purge so I folded up some paper towels and put it on those because I had just added fresh food to the container. I'm sitting on the couch, watching TV and glancing at the caterpillar every now and then. Finally, my brother walks behind the couch, peers over, and right at that moment the caterpillar gut purges. My brother starts freaking out and goes into his "drama queen" persona about how disgusting that was. Meanwhile, I can't stop laughing and telling the caterpillar how totally awesome he is. If you knew all the stuff my brother has done in the past, you would know why this made me so happy.

Well, today I was cleaning and feeding the Black Swallowtail cats when my brother decided it was time to start dinner. I don't know why he couldn't have waited five minutes until I was done in the kitchen, but that's him. The Black ST cats were being pretty mellow considering I had to move them, but only two stinkhorned me. Eventually, my brother walks over by the trash can and smells it and starts freaking out again. Turns on the blower and everything. I explained that it's the same chemical compound found in rancid butter and is a defense meant to scare off predators, but inside I was thanking that caterpillar so much.

So here they are. Notice the one in the lower right is a much darker color than the others. You get that sometimes. Just natural variations.



I went to take the lid of the Phaon Crescents and there was a butterfly that had emerged! Luckily, it couldn't fly yet. I took it outside where it sat on the porterweed.

Oh, I forgot to say that I was awarded the Plant ID badge! I thought I was the one always asking for help, not giving it!

I found another HUGE Tobacco hornworm cat today. I have a container with 7 Datura and so far he has devoured 4 of them. Love the moth - here they are often Hummingbird moths (or at least a pretty Sphinx), but this late in the season he will likely over winter in the ground.

Regarding the white cabbage moths, the cats here are very destructive and they eat almost anything. Found a cat the other day wreaking havoc on a new banana leaf that was unfurling. Now it has 9 holes in it.

Fabulous photos J, Robin, Christine & Jim!!! You guys are on a roll tonight!!!

No pentas here Melanie but I looked on BAMONA & it says Buttonweed is a host. That must be what it's getting here -- I'm sure we have some somewhere here.

Had my camera in the garden today taking pictures of some chili peppers and a Skipper came to rest a while.
Two pics of the same Skipper.

I took a break & came back & posted so I missed Melanie's post. Great photos Melanie. Those little Phaon Crescents sure are pretty.

Good for you David. Looks like you'll be having an overwinterer.

Way to go Greene! Boy, everyone has butterfly photos today.

I really like the coloring on that Skipper, Greene!