Emperor Gum Caterpillar

• 10 Nov, 2011
• 10 likes

As a young child growing up in NZ, this caterpillar absolutely fascinated me & I would frequently go in search of it with a brother 2 years older than me. It is found in the emperor gum tree, which is similar in looks to the Australian Eucalyptus. The caterpillar is a wonderful torquoise colour with spikes all over it which have different colour dots on the ends. It is around 3 inches in length. Truly magical, & when it goes into its cocoon stage, the cocoon is rock hard & brown, out of which eventually comes the emperor gum moth, which really is nothing exciting at all.