Big gray caterpillar with "eyespots" and orange prongs

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Mouse Police

Big gray caterpillar with "eyespots" and orange prongs

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NewsHawk

Posts: 882

(06/30/09 3:36 AM)

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Anyone ever seen this BUG?

A fat gray caterpillar, with two yellow circles on it's back?

Annoy it, and it will stick these two orange prongs out... and emit an awful stench!

I first saw one when I was a kid here in Minnesota, we called it "Old Mister Grey". That was back in the 70's

I next saw one about 12 years ago, I put it in a jar, and it "pupated", but my mom threw it out because "eww"...

Now I found one again, and I'm not sure if it's going to make it. It looks dead, but there's silky strands in the jar.

Is it "pupating" or is it dead?

Anyway, it's a childhood mistery. What sort of moth is this stinky, creepy worm?

bill fallin

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NewsHawk

Posts: 167952

(06/30/09 10:17 AM)

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Mouse, you sure have an interesting life.

_____________________________
Liberals FEEL; Conservatives THINK

BILL FALLIN

Milt48

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NewsHawk

Posts: 4642

(06/30/09 12:15 PM)

NewsHawk

Maybe this will help

http://www.butterfliesand...x=181&y=54&_fc=1

Mouse Police

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NewsHawk

Posts: 888

(07/02/09 10:35 PM)

"Old Mister Grey" turned into wood!

He's turned into a 1 1/2 inch peice of a tree branch.

The camoflauge is almost perfect, on the one end (where it appears his wings wil grow) he looks exactly like a broken tree branch.

On the other end... well I guess he would have expected to hang from a tree. Hanging from a tree branch, you'd never know.

But I picked him up on a concrete brick wall by a sidewalk. Not a smart place for a worm to hunker down. Some kid comes by on his bike... "Eww what's that?"

Mouse Police

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NewsHawk

Posts: 899

(07/09/09 4:55 AM)

"Old Mister Grey" is still in his "tree bark" form.

If he had cocooned or pupated or chrysalised, whatever he calls it, on a tree... well then he would have blended in with the bark.

Instead, he chose a cement block wall. Good choice of camouflage there, buddy!

John Hunter

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NewsHawk

Posts: 90777

(07/09/09 4:05 PM)

Co-Founder/Editor
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Instead, he chose a cement block wall. Good choice of camouflage there, buddy!

That is how nature removes stupid from the gene pool.

John - NRA - Lifer
IWLA - Indiana Division Sec.

"We have 8,000 INS agents protecting our borders against illegal aliens and terrorists while we have over 100,000 IRS agents chasing working people." - Bill Rollyson

Mouse Police

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NewsHawk

Posts: 907

(07/16/09 2:24 AM)

Last night, I shook the jar... and it wiggled!

Old Mister Grey is still alive!

Mouse Police

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NewsHawk

Posts: 914

(07/18/09 1:55 AM)

Last night, I checked on the hunk of bark in the jar. It didn't move.

A few hours later, I looked at the jar on top of the refrigerator, and it wasn't there. I looked closer and saw black spindly legs flailing about on the other side of the jar!

Old MISS Grey had hatched from her pupa...

... but unfortunately, there was nothing for her to climb up on to spread her wings and let them dry. So her left wing was permanently crushed from laying against the side of the jar.

THE LEFT WING... permanently disabled.... YES!!!!

Sorry friends, not THAT "left wing"... It's just a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.

And how do I know it's a female? Thanks to Milt, for the reference site.

The male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is that big huge yellow and black butterfly that you see everywhere in summer. The female is black, with just a few yellow spots around the edges of it's wings, and then some blue on it's lower wings.

I put her out on a tree in the yard, but an hour later, she was gone. She couldn't have flown away, so I guess she got eaten by some bird.

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Big gray caterpillar with "eyespots" and orange prongs

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