The Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar (Hypercompe Scribonia)

Today I was gathering pine needles from under the pine tree grove in the center of the nursery area of the property to test them for mulch and ground cover under trees. As I was raking up pine needles, I saw a black object. I thought it was a stone or a piece of hollow, flat, thin black plastic that was used in the past to irrigate the trees. I’ve been finding these plastic strips all over the nursery. The caterpillar was rolled into a ball in a defensive position, partially hidden under the pine needles. I tried placing it on a stick to see if it would open up, but it did not. It has a thick coat of black bristles with red circular rings around it. Upon looking this up, I found it is a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar. This time of the year caterpillars have long turned into moths or butterflies. The leopard moth requires two years to complete its round of life. It turns out the giant leopard moth overwinters as a caterpillar on the ground under things like bark or pine needles.

The moth, which I hope to see some night, is quite beautiful. It has a wingspan of 76 mm (3 in). Its wings are bright white with a pattern of black circles and dots. The overside of the abdomen is dark blue with orange markings, while the underside is white with solid black spots, and males have a narrow yellow line on the sides. Their legs have black and white bands. Adult moths are strictly nocturnal and do not generally fly before nightfall.