luna moth

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar /  by Todd Henson

An eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar

Butterflies and moths are some of the fantastic creatures that begin their lives in very different forms, that of caterpillars. I’m not yet very good at identifying caterpillars but some of them are very distinctive, which can help. In this case we have a green caterpillar with what appears to be a large bulbous head with large yellow and black “eyes” and a yellow stripe around its neck and some blue spots around its body. Of course, a lot of this is just decoration, likely to make it appear less appetizing to any nearby predators.

Look at those “eyes” on the eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar

I was fortunate to find this beautiful eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar

After a bit of online searching it appeared I’d found the caterpillar for an eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, one of the common and very beautiful species we see here in Virginia. The butterflies can be largely yellow or largely black but I’ve no clue how to tell from the caterpillar which it would become. As luck would have it, the first butterfly I photographed this year was a yellow eastern tiger swallowtail, so here’s a view of it resting on some leaves of the forest floor. We saw the butterfly in early April and the caterpillar in late May

My first view of a butterfly in 2022 happened to be a yellow eastern tiger swallowtail

When I returned to the site of the caterpillar a couple weeks later it was gone. The entire leaf was gone. I had hoped to find the leaf curled up with the chrysalis inside. I’ve read they can stay in chrysalis form for approximately 1 to 3 weeks, so it is possible I was too late. It’s also possible something happened to it. Perhaps it became a meal or a person walking along the boardwalk took it. I’m hopeful it managed the transformation to a butterfly, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to view and photograph it.

This was my first encounter with an eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar. Have you seen any of these before?

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Luna Moth on Bark /  by Todd Henson

A Luna moth resting on the bark of a tree along the trail.

There are species I sometimes think I’ll never see in a natural setting, and many moths fall into that category. I might see them early in the morning or late at night around buildings, but finding them out in nature? Nope.

A closeup of the Luna moth showing some of the fascinating patterns and structures.

Thankfully, the Luna moth proved me wrong! While hiking the trails of Prince William Forest Park one afternoon in late April I just happened to see a shape and color that stood out near the base of a tree, and found this particular Luna moth resting on the bark. As often happens with resting moths, this one paid me no heed whatsoever as I inched closer and closer with the camera, so I was able to get some closeup views of this beautiful moth. I hope you enjoy them.

A vertical view of the Luna moth.

Then in late May I had a second encounter in the same park. This time I found a Luna moth resting upside down on the branch of a downed tree. Seeing it from this perspective allows us to see that nice set of eyes on the lower inside wings, and also gives a view of the white body of the moth. This particular one appears to have lost the tips of its two tails.

The underside of a Luna moth

Facing down a Luna moth

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