Swallowtail caterpillar.

Butterflies are relatively easy to find. Active during the day, their colourful wings flutter the insect through the air from flower to flower. Moths tend to be a little more challenging as they are more active at night and don't always feed as adults. Caterpillars, the larvae of lepidopterans, are usually even harder to find. They tend to be specific in their eating habits, relying on certain plant species or genera to feed. As a result, if you are looking for a specific caterpillar, you have to search for particular plants.

Why would anyone hunt for a particular caterpillar? It seems to be a ludicrous expenditure of time. Yet, the reward can be an opportunity to be totally astonished. First off, many caterpillars are beautiful in their own way and some are particularly large. Watching them grow, seeing them shed their skin, and their amazing transformation from larva to pupa to adult is spectacular. If you are fortunate enough to see one emerge from its pupal stage, you can also watch how the insect inflates its wings from crumpled, shriveled lumps to stunning wings. There is an excellent video of the process here.

Admittedly, I do not know enough about plant species and caterpillar habits to do such things, and my travels usually prevent me from taking along anything that requires specific feeding. If you are interested, you can find some kits at pet stores or through on-line sales that allow you to raise caterpillars to adults. If you are interested in one, type "caterpillar to butterfly kit" into a search engine and you should find somewhere that supplies them. The ones I looked at were for painted lady butterflies.

The caterpillar I photographed above is, I believe, a species of swallowtail. I am not certain, and I could not find a particular species of swallowtail, if it is indeed one of that genus. The closest one I came to was a variety of black swallowtail. I did, however, find a wonderful site on caterpillars and their adult forms at this website. It is worth a look.

I have my daughter to thank for the find. While camping one summer she came across the insect and directed my attention to. You can imagine my excitement at such an opportunity; I have never seen one like this before in spite of all the critter-looking that I do. Immediately, I began to photograph it using my macro setup. I released it unharmed later; it was a stipulation my daughter made as part of the agreement. I took the photos back in 2009; she would have been 14 at the time.

I am always amazed at life, wherever I find it. I really enjoy sharing my experience and finds with others.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen