I think of caterpillars as spring or summer insects, but a lot of them actually live late into the year and overwinter as pupae. I've seen some new (to me) in the garden in the past couple of months.
This one was on a hawthorn tree I cut down at the end of August. At first I thought it was eating (or being eaten by) a ladybug, then realized the "ladybug" was the caterpillar's head:
I took the photo to the county fair and asked around the agricultural building, with no luck. A friend identified it as a hawk moth larva, but that turned out to be wrong. I finally found it online. It's a beautiful wood nymph -- not to be confused with the pearly wood nymph, though the mistake would be understandable. (Check out the tagline at the top of that site, by the way.)
I don't think I've ever seen one of the adults. I believe I would remember a moth that looks like a stretched-out piece of bird poop.
The second crawler I found was a BIG caterpillar, almost the size of my thumb, covered in scary black spines:
I did a Web search on this one and found it right away. It's a giant leopard moth, a beautiful wedge-shaped black and white moth which I have seen on my front porch. Until I find my photo, however, here's a link. I wasn't brave enough to pick it up with my bare hands, though, like he did (after determining it was harmless).
While pulling up my dead zucchini plants the other day, I disturbed a fuzzy white caterpillar with tan and black markings:
I've since identified it as a hickory tussock moth. It was downright cute -- reminded me of a little fluffy baby animal, like maybe a bunny, all soft and cuddly. I watched it for a while until it uncurled itself and resumed its epic journey across the garden.
Turns out it's a good thing I only looked and didn't try to cuddle this little guy. Those hairs are poisonous and cause a nasty rash!
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