NMW: Saddleback Caterpillar

Acharia stimulea the saddleback caterpillar, Delaware

There are two methods for finding the saddleback caterpillar.  The first is careful searching of a variety of its plant hosts, looking for evidence of feeding and flipping leaves over to see the larvae.  The second method is to put on a pair of shorts from 1982 and stride confidently through shrubby vegetation until you feel the caterpillar.  Like many other species in the family Limacodidae, the saddleback's spines will deliver a painful sting - I have (accidentally) encountered many of them this way.

The Limacodidae are called the 'slug caterpillars' because their prolegs (the grippy legs at the rear) are modified into one big pad.  Members of this group also have turtle-style retractable heads, which I think contribute to their exotic appearance.  This video might show you what I mean:

Flies time

Self-portrait with Pangoniinae

I'm a big fan of the entomophagy movement but this post isn't about including insects in human diets, rather, it's the other way around.  I was pleased to see Morgan Jackson's post on deer flies; not only for the interesting read and beautiful flies, but also because it's nice to be reminded that there are other folks out there who are [insert adjective] enough to let an insect bite or sting them out of curiosity or for a nice portrait session.

I'm pretty sure that Morgan's photo was more painful than mine; as he mentions, most biting flies in the family Tabanidae use their serrated knife-like mandibles to painfully cut skin, and then drink up the blood.  Flies in the primitive subfamily Pangoniinae, however, are well adapted for feeding on nectar deep within flowers.  This one's long narrow proboscis inflicted little pain when it did bite.  Still, watching the fly work its far-reaching mouthparts into my knee was a little disconcerting:

This is the opposite of entomophagy

 One thing is clear from all these tabanid photos: The world is in need of some insect photographers with slightly less body hair.