Pic of Hickory Horned Devil for Bonkers and Toto

:o(

scarey,

Well just knew it would be bigger and bolder than anything we had !

6 inches long good grief - wouldnt be much of your garden left if these moved in ?

A question to show I pay attention Is it called a Hickory because thats what it feeds on or do you breed them in your home town of Hickory ?

I hope its the first part ..lol

LOL..., you sure are a quick witted little devil with an excellent memory, Bonkers. You really keep me laughing ! To answer your question it's the first part, (wish I could say the other...haha). They mainly feed on Hickorynut and Walnut tree leaves.

I know alot of people are going to think I'm crazy, (no news flash ),but I think this is one of the coolest looking caterpillars I've ever seen. They remind me of those giant paper dragons you see in a Chinese New Year's parade.

Oh that such a relief Flower that these not named after your town ..had images of townsfolk fighting off giant caterpillars them invading your beautiful garden a bit like that film tremors ? remember those giant slug things ..

Yes they look big enough for people to get inside .. Ok this sounds silly but this in a country with groundhog day ? Where you dig up a gopher he speaks to you and predicts the weather ..and they call me bonkers lol

LMAO...,I loved that movie......All sounds very intriquing to me Bonkers. I like the thought of secretly growing them for my own twisted pleasure and turning them loose on telemarketers or the dreaded tax collector, who makes me pay them yearly for my own land ! Or anyone in general who's ticked me off...., this is sounding better by the minute.....lol. Wonder what a little Miracle Grow fertilizer and steroids would do for them...AH ha ha ha aaa...

Wow, what a caterpillar! Looks like he's dressed up for halloween! I agree Flcrazy, about it looking like one of those chinese dragons.

What does it change into.A flying creature! (A Bat maybe) I am going off of North Carolina.Tell me I may not sleep otherwise.

Is it really real? Looks like one of Funky's bits of artwork.....

unbelieavable.never seen anything like it...............great pic

What a beautiful beasty . What does it turn into ?

Think Toto must be in shock having seen the size of this ..well done Mac good question.

Good gracious ..... I've never seen anything like this before, its amazing.

Thanks guys...., hope I didn't cause anyone to have any nightmares...lol. Yes it's real Milky....:-)
This little devil, turns into a Regal moth. I added a post of it , following this one.

If this can reach 6 inches long, FLC - how big is the regal moth, maybe the size of an umbrella, lol.

LOL..., The female's wingspan is about 15 cm , she is a little larger than the male.

Aye the female of the the species more deadly than the male ...as in the song lol

Wow! miss a day or two of goY and this is what I find when I return! LOL...what a beauty! they look like fine silk...have you ever handled one? are they silky to the touch? or just spikey...usually those spikes are defensive weapons right?

Oh my gosh, no I do not like the picture!!! LOL But I do like that you are from NC! This is the greatest website ever, I am from Florida and feel right at home here since I joined about 1 week ago. It is not as ugly as our tomato worms, the green ones that look like a tomato stalk? 3-4" long. Eat the leaves off one plant overnight (they don't seem to like the tomatoes, they just taste them. Have good evening!

FLC: That's one massive moth!!
Welcome to GoY Paticiamb, pleased you are enjoying being part of the site.

Thanks Dawnsaunt! What never surprises me is that one can make friends so quickly when sharing a common love whatever it might be.

Very true Pat :-)

Yes Bonkers, the females do always seem to have a size advantage in the insect world...lol
Welcome to GOY Paticiamb, I know you are going to love it here. These are some of the friendliess people I've ever had the pleasure of chatting with and the inspirational gardens go on forever...lol. There's never a dull moment !
Yes Lori I've held one in my hand, and it was as big as my hand too....lol. I've only seen two of these caterpillars in my lifetime, you'd think being I have two hickorynut trees in the yard I would have seem more.To answer your question Lori, they are soft to the touch, and the spikes are just a visual threat, though it looks like it should have a posionous stinger, this one does not.

Wow! that must have been an awesome experience! just to give us an idea of scale...the larva is that huge...so what is the wingspan of the moth?

Lori, the female moth's wingspan is almost 6 inches across, she's no little thing either....lol

Gosh! wish I could see one. must be a treat~!.

Wow, Flcrazy.....just found your pic. This is one awsome caterpiller. Very much reminds me of a chinese dragon too. I wouldn't like to step on one accidently..........with bare feet.......I bet that would be a mess. LOL

LOL..., Yes Gilli that would be quite a disaster, don't know which would be worse, the pain or the huge clean up ....:-)

Please....I just had my tea ! Lol

LMAO...., oops ! Sorry about that Bonkers...

I bet you are ! LOL

Man..., you know me too well.! ...hehehe... But I still beg your forgiveness anyway....;-)

It would be 10 times as bad as squishing one of those horrible white grubs you find in the soil that are about 1.5". Boy do they make a mess.

Sorry I missed this one FLC. Bonkers was kind enough to let me know it was here. I think it is a fantastic looking caterpillar.
I've just double checked my favourite members page and for some reason you were not there. Seems very odd as I thought I added you ages ago. That must be why I missed your beautiful photo.
As for being on my favourites, that error on my part has now been corrected. Sorry.

Please don't give it another thought Toto. To be honest I thought you were in my favorites already too, but weren't. So we are even...lol.
Thanks Bonkers...;-)
Those white grubs are what turns into the dreaded japanese beatles that destroy my garden every year Gilli, wouldn't mind squishing all of them under my bare feet...., oops..., there I go again.....lol. We really are being naughty, aren't we Gilli *ha ha* ! I'll go ahead and apologise now....;-)

Good grief...can you let me digest at least one meal ! All this squishing is doing my digestive system no good !

Poor Bonkers..., Jane gives most of your food away to the birds and squirrels and here I go causing you to have trouble digesting what little food you do get.... ! I really should be ashamed of myself...lol. (hopefully it will be soon, I'll keep you posted)...;-)

LOL.....Poor BB. We're sorry....(hee hee hee).
Those big white grubs turn into June beetles here Flcrazy. Very similar to Japanese beetles but just a plain shiney brown colour.

Aye you both really sound sorry lol....June beetles Gilli ? are they similar to May bugs that seem to be wearing coats of armour as they fly into you !

Thanks Flower please do keep me posted .. will understand if it takes a while ..

They are probably the same as May bugs BB, or at least very similar. Fat, round, brown and shiney. They crunch quite satisfactorily when you step on them. LOL

No, really, I'm sorry......really sorry.....dreadfully sorry.........oh, forget it!! I'm not sorry at all.............hee hee hee.

Crikey....have only just caught up with this huge critter.......I can just see our little Robin trying to hump this beasty over his shoulder....Lol!

By the size of him Janey think it may be the other way round ..

OMG, my kids would never go near the garden again if they saw one of these.... where can I get some..lol

Ohhh.
Yikes !

No, i don't like the thought of this in my garden !!!!

One thing for sure Janey, if your Robin could figure out a way to lasso this big boy, it would feed the family for a week, sure would save him alot of time and energy grubbing for food...lol
Sounds like Usernut has a plan brewing....lol. Nothing's more fun than getting even with the kids !
Awh..., come on Louise ! He's a handsome, horned little devil...lol

Whatever rocks your boat Flcrazy !!!

LOL...., I wouldn't go so far as to say he was THAT handsome Lousie ...;-)

LOL

Wow, the comments go on forever. I haven't laughed so much about one picture in a long while. I definately have to show this one to my little guys. They will love it! And then they will draw me numerous pictures of it. :-)

Thanks Mamagem ! So glad you enjoyed the posts. We here on GOY occasionally get a little 'wild and crazy' and bitten by the laughter bug. It's these times that I personally live for....lol. Hope your little guys get a big kick out of my caterpillar post. I just love to see children's imaginations at work .

You have fantastic photo skills - the wildlife is great