Predatory Caterpillar? - Eutrapela clemataria

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths (Geometroidea) » Geometrid Moths (Geometridae) » Ennominae » Ourapterygini » Eutrapela » Curve-toothed Geometer - Hodges#6966 (Eutrapela clemataria)

Photo#517527

Copyright © 2011 appletree

Predatory Caterpillar? - Eutrapela clemataria

N. Chickamauga Creek Park, Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, USA
May 8, 2011

I suspect that this exquisitely camouflaged larva is an ambush predator. I only spotted it when a friend picked up a piece of litter next to it and I saw it move.

Images of this individual: tag all

Predatory Caterpillar? - Eutrapela clemataria

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Contributed by appletree on 19 May, 2011 - 1:04am
Last updated 20 May, 2011 - 8:32pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… john and jane balaban, 20 May, 2011 - 8:32pm

Inchworm (Geometridae)

I think there actually is a predatory inchworm in Hawaii, but as far as I know there are none in North America. Camouflage is just as important to prey species as to predators.

… Charley Eiseman, 19 May, 2011 - 10:26am

Predator?

I agree, and most of the inchworms I have seen have been green, a good color for a leaf-eater. The middle photo, a bit out of focus, shows the specimen as I found it, attached by the suction feet on its tail end to a root protruding from the ground. The mouth was not near anything but it was in a position from which it could quickly snap down and grab a passing insect or other animal on the ground below it. I saw a similar looking predatory larva on the TV program, Nature, several years ago.

… appletree, 19 May, 2011 - 12:42pm

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