Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The Hickory Horned Devil


This message does not really have to do with backyard wildlife management. However, it is an interesting note about a species you may run into in your backyard one day.

About a week ago an Office Assistant (basically a secretary) where I work asked me to come to the back door to see something. What I saw surprised and, to some extent, frightened me. I had never seen this creature in the past. It was a Hickory Horned Devil!

The Hickory Horned Devil is the caterpillar of the Regal Moth. The scientific name is Citheronia regalis. It is the largest caterpillar in the United States.

Why did it frighten me? I had been stung by the hairs of other caterpillars and the stings can be quite painful. Especially when one gets down into hip boots and stings you a number of times before you can get the boot off! I speak from experience. I was not sure if the hairs on this one were of the stinging variety. When I pushed it into a container the caterpillar quickly wiggled. I didn't want to get stung. Later I found out that it does not have stinging hairs.

The part you see with the black spots is not the head. The caterpillar tucks its much smaller head under the front of the body when frightened. These large, black eyes and horny projections look like the head of a fearsome creature and are designed to frighten potential predators. If a predator does bite it at this false head, the real head remains protected and the animal may live to see another day. Other caterpillars, such as that of the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly, try to fool predators in much the same way.

Apparently, it is OK for some animals to fool part of Mother Nature. Just don't try to fool all of her.

Left click here to see a web page that provides information about it.