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large green caterpillar (Hickory horned devil caterpillar)

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Wow
by: Aubrey

If this is real wow it is huge but if it is not then What ever!! I want a caterpillar that big!!!!
HICKORY HORNED DEVIL CATERPILLAR
by: Moni

KDT
We have a couple pics of this caterpillar on this site.
Thanks for the offer though.

You might see if a local naturalist would like the photo. Otherwise since there is not a caterpillar photo from KY on bugguide.net, you could submitt it there. Here is the website to use - http://bugguide.net/node/view/6/bgimage
Hickory Horned Devil in KY
by: KDT

I found a hickory horned devil at our campsite at John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY 7/28/11. I am 54 years old and have never seen one of these before, however after investigating on the net I am surprised because I have seen many Regal Moths throughout my life. Very interesting creature! I have a really good picture I took if you would like to see it, however I would need to know how to send it.
Hickory horned devil caterpillar
by: Moni

Chris
Your photo is of the hickory horned devil. It is the larva of the Royal Walnut moth, also called the Regal moth.
The larvae feed on leaves of ash, burning bush, butternut, cotton, gum, hickory, lilac, pecan, persimmon, sumac, sycamore, and walnut. The larva pupate in the soil. It was probably getting ready to head to a pupation site when you found it.
Tho the caterpillar looks dangerous, it is harmless.
Adult moths of this family do not feed.

I do not encourage you to keep it...it is best to let it back outside in a safe place with leaf litter and soil - so it can pupate as Nature allows. It overwinters as a pupa and they are HARD to overwinter.

Should you want to try to rear it - here is what I have written about rearing caterpillars......

The rearing of caterpillars is a challenge. Mother Nature does it best. And just so you know ahead of time, when you find a caterpillar in the 'wild', sometimes they have been parasitized ...meaning another insect like a fly or wasp has laid eggs inside the caterpillar. So when you try to rear the caterpillar, it dies from the eggs inside it - not something you can predict.
This caterpillar stage lasts about 35 days. And then overwinters in pupa stage...so you would not see the moth until next spring.

Here is a good site for rearing caterpillars...click on Raising.... on the right hand side to read the various suggestions. You can also submit questions - Which I would recommend for this insect. These are folks that raise them regularly.
http://www.buglifecycle.com

With all that said the basics of rearing any insect is to feed it what it wants to eat...fresh (never sprayed with insecticides) food continually. Then, when the caterpillar stops eating...they will typically go searching for a place to pupate. Since yours has pupated in soil you could gently put it between paper towels as described below or cover the container with a paper towel or cloth (so no predators get in to destroy the pupa).
It is best to provide layers of barely damp paper towels for the caterpillar to pupate in between. Then this needs to be kept someplace where the temperatures are much like they are outside. Some folks put them in the refrigerator then put a drop of water on the paper towel once a month thru the winter until the trees start to put out foliage. Then you would bring the pupa outside to let it emerge with the normal weather. Putting a stick in the container for the moth to climb up on.
This is a brief description and may not be enough for rearing but gives you an idea.
Please do a lot of internet research.

(You can look at the adult on Insect Id page -
Read more: http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/large-orange-moth-regal-or-royal-walnut-moth-comments.html#ixzz0RhvDY8TP)

Read more: http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/big-green-with-orange-headdress-hickory-horned-devil-comments.html#ixzz0y7aFPAKd
Dehydrating?
by: Rob

I'd guess, it's only a guess - i'm no expert - that the insect needs water so putting some on a tissue or a leaf of grass near it might help.

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