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Photo#544792
Large, spiky black & red caterpillar - Battus philenor

Large, spiky black & red caterpillar - Battus philenor
Angel Island, San Francisco County, California, USA
July 11, 2011
Size: 2"

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
Many caterpillars go through dramatic changes as they grow.

now i did not know they were in Ca
till i looked at the map. Pipevine Swallowtail - Hodges#4157 (Battus philenor)

 
And they change color too!
Wow, crazy! Thanks! And talk about metamorphoses within metamorphoses, here's a picture of a "juvenile" that's bright red. They darken as they age!

http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/07/21/pipevine-swallowtail-caterpillar/

Is that common?

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