On July 27, I saw the skin of a giant leopard moth caterpillar. I thought, "oh my gosh, is that a Giant leopard caterpillar?" AND sure enough, one of these caterpillars had molted (shedded its skin) there! I picked up the cute caterpillar and it curled in a ball😊💕While many fuzzy caterpillars are poisonous and can cause very painful rashes if you pet them, the Giant Leopard moth caterpillar is not poisonous and safe to touch and handle! Whenever I see a fuzzy caterpillars I always try to find out what species it is before handling it. Last year in 2021 I raised a giant leopard moth from caterpillar to adult and named it Leopard. It was before I had a YouTube channel so unfortunately I didn't get to post that. But this time I can actually show it to you in these videos! 😀 The giant leopard caterpillar eats the leaves of many plants. Leaves include:
banana
cherry
cabbage
dandelion
maples
orange
SUNFLOWER
violets
willows
honeysuckle
magnolia
lilacs
broadleaf plantains
In our garden, each year they always seem to go for the sunflower. I notice the holes in the leaves and knew one of these caterpillars was somewhere around. I picked the sunflower leaves and washed them with a water hose after picking to remove bad insects that might hurt the caterpillar and other bad things that might be on the leaf. Then I dry them off. After that I put the leaves into a water bottle to keep them from drying out quickly. I put the caterpillar on the leaf, and at first the caterpillar was still curled up. The caterpillar uncurled but still did not move. When I placed the bottle Into the Butterfly habitat the caterpillar fell off. Hours later at sunset, the caterpillar had started to eat holes in the leaf and was doing good. I named this caterpillar "Bristle" because that's what the "furr" on this caterpillar is actually called. Bristles! Then each day, I woke up to a leave that had been eaten up and had to replace it. So, I continued the pattern: pick leaves, wash them, replace water inside of bottle and put them in. Then one day, I got a huge leaf and expected the caterpillar to eat it up like it had been every other day. The caterpillar started to eat then suddenly stopped. I thought Bristle might have eaten enough and that it was preparing to shed its skin. During this process, the caterpillars literally crawl out of their skin with new skin. It's amazing to watch. I also thought that the caterpillar might be preparing to turn into a chrysalis.
But 10 days (August 6) after I found Bristle, I made a TERRIBLE mistake. 😢. I thought I had completely zipped up the enclosure, but I had actually left an opening! It was not very large nor very small, but just the perfect size for the caterpillar to escape! I got up only to realize the caterpillar had escaped. I looked everywhere and finally found the caterpillar laying on the floor. But the caterpillar cannot even crawl properly. It appears to be injured and can barely move. I found a second giant leopard moth caterpillar a few days ago that was barely moving and not doing well. It only made the slightest moves if I touched it. I didn't bring it and as it was quite obvious that this caterpillar would die even if I brought it into the house. I don't want the same fate for Bristle. 😭 I hope that the caterpillar might just be preparing to become a chrysalis. Last year, Leopard made plenty of silk at the top of the enclosure and I thought that the caterpillar was making a cocoon. But the caterpillar did all that only to crawl to the bottom and pupate. Leopard was not moving very much and I thought the caterpillar would not make it, but thankfully the pupation happened successfully. I hope that the same thing happens for Bristle. I will give you an update to let you know if it's successful or unsuccessful.
Thanks for watching.
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