#hickory horn devil moth

[jadafitch]

Regal Moth Stickers! New to my Etsy Shop

[onenicebugperday]

@nyxknowsnothing submitted: I found this little guy under a tree while walking on my college campus. This is in the metropolitan Atlanta area, and I took this picture on August 18th, if it matters. This was the first time I had ever seen a caterpillar this big and I haven't seen anything like it since, which feels a little strange to me. Does this species only come out as caterpillars at a certain time of year, or are they just rare where I am??

This friendo is a hickory horned devil, which is the name for the caterpillar of the regal moth. They are more common in mid-late summer. They're not super UNcommon in your area, but normally they'd be on their host tree, not wandering around on the ground. Despite their fierce appearance, they don't sting or anything.

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

Regal Moth (Citheronia regalis)

(Photo in Public Domain)

(Photo from the University of Florida)

Conservation Status- Unlisted

Habitat- Eastern United States

Size (Weight/Length)- 15 cm wingspan

Diet- Tree leaves

Cool Facts- The regal moth and their corresponding caterpillar, the hickory horned devil, might look scary but can do very little to actually harm you. The caterpillars spend up to 40 days feasting on the tree they hatched on. The great spines along the caterpillar’s head helps to deter a hungry bird from a juicy meal. However, these spines lack any venom and only deter birds through sheer prickly power. Once ready to pupate, the caterpillars climb down the tree and burrow into the ground. In this state, they can survive two years underground, even in freezing temperatures, before emerging as a large moth. Regal moths only live for about a week as an adult moth, during which the race to mate is on. 

Rating- 12/10 (A large group of caterpillars can strip a tree of leaves.)

Requested by @ellipsis-dotdotdot

[smallsleepyoarfish]

I love the hickory horned devil caterpillar, it’s big and intimidating, and as it ages it becomes more blue and less green, becoming teal right before it pupates, but afterwards it becomes…

The regal moth! Though it cannot eat as an adult and thus does not live long, it’s a fancy sight and a relatively big one too!

[gatsby-system-folks]

What was I doing? Oh, nothing, just discovering my new favorite animal (other than raccoons or course)

...

do NOT open that link if you're not a die-hard, impossible to scare bug fan. I love bugs and that thing gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Oh and when you're done admiring the hammerhead worm, check out the hickory horned devil/regal moth!! And a link to the caterpillar itself.

Same trigger warning these things look fucked up.

[dumbwr1ter]

I forgot about crackhead biology, we back, maybe not

This is a series where i post 3 animals with some kind of similarity, but distill it all through my completely insane mental process Anyways today we go with MOTHS

So, first of the usual 3, we have the Atlas Moth AKA "wandering painting", this being the largest moth im sure many of you know them, however i absolutely love the massive bastards, they are native to the forests of Southeast Asia

for the second one, this is more for the caterpillar than the moth itself, however we have the regal moth, with the hickory horned devil caterpillar (thats its actual name) im not going to make an AKA cause holy shit that goes hard, these are native to the forests of the Eastern US

and finally, we have the Cthulhu moth, AKA holy fucking shit what is that, im not posting it but just look it up, they have 4 large tentacle like scent organs on the rear of their abdomens, they are native to Australia because of course they are

[daredevil-vagabond]

The Demon provokes me: after you, be my guest! [Demons Banquet]

Hickory horned devil -> Regal moth Damian

[deathmoth-blog]

Citheronia regalis, the regal moth or royal walnut moth, is a North American moth in the family Saturniidae. The caterpillars are called hickory horned devils. The adult (imago) has a wingspan of 3.75–6.1 in (9.5–15.5 cm). The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793.

several more times. Adults of this family of moths have vestigial mouths, meaning their mouthparts have been reduced. Because of this, they do not eat and only live for about a week as adults.

There is a single generation of Citheronia regalis throughout its range, but in the deep south, moths have been recorded throughout the longer growing season. Typically, C. regalis is a midsummer moth, on wing from late June through August with larvae peaking August through October. There is a distinct bell curve to the emergence, with peak weeks coinciding with the first spell of the humid summer weather which may synchronize emergences.

[is-it-a-dragon]

Source - https://owlcation.com/stem/Before-a-Hickory-Horned-Devil-Becomes-a-Regal-Moth-Even-Chickens-Are-Afraid-of-Them

Here is a hickory horned devil! Larval stage of the regal moth

[onenicebugperday]

Thanks to @depraced for sharing this video of a lovely Citheronia regalis (regal moth) caterpillar :)

(Video shared with permission of the original poster)

[astralspeckart]

Concept for my new dnd character. Based on the Hickory horned devil moth

Plus original doodles

[blubushie]

ENORMOUS moth discovered at the gas station near my house :D She's a regal moth/royal walnut moth!! Their caterpillars, the hickory horned devil, are one of the largest in the world!! I felt like u would wanna bask in her regal presence

HOLY GIANT MOTH. I LOVE HER

[moths-daily]

could you possibly do either a regal moth (hickory horned devil) or an imperial moth? they're gorgeous!

Moth Of The Day #46

Imperial Moth

Eacles imperialis

From the saturniidae family. They have a wingspan of 80-175 cm. They tend to inhabit evergreen and deciduous forests. It can be found mainly in Eastern South America, and up to North America, from Argentina to Canada.

We already covered the regal moth!

[anthromimicry]

🐛 - @twcfaces!

an insect i associate with your muse meme!

AHH, hello there!! thank you for the ask, my friend, though i'm SO sorry for how late this is - but here i am answering these once more and whenever it comes to your harvey/two's? i'd say that the insect i associate with them is the hickory horned devil caterpillar, which later transforms into something called the regal moth, which has very beautiful coloring in my humble opinion. i shall include a picture of both underneath a cut at the end of this because i know that insects can be a squick for some people BUT let's just talk about them for now!

so, as this insects has two different names since it undergoes both a caterpillar phase and a moth phase throughout its life, that is actually one reason that i chose this particular insect for harvey/two's. for that means that they undergo a transformation during their life-cycle and harvey had gone through one as well. though, in their case; the transformation that they went through was unfortunately of a rather... distressing nature, to say the least. but before all of that happened, harvey was the district attorney for a time, which is a highly appointed position.

and therefore - i imagine that some people might've seen him as a slightly imposing figure. thus, as such, i kind of wanted to implement that idea into the insect i chose for him and i thought with the way that the hickory horned devil looks (with multiple horns sprouting from its head + thorn-looking spines on several parts of its body, though these features on the insect can't cause any real harm to other organisms, actually) this could represent that rather well. though harvey was always a good guy in my opinion and i never like it when people go the route of making him this super corrupt + sleazy lawyer character because that just doesn't feel like him to me.

so, i'd say in a way, i went with the route of having some people's perceptions of him show on the outside (metaphorically) when the regal moth is honestly a good representation of who harvey truly is on the inside. i also think its interesting that, with the caterpillars, they can create this rattlesnake-like sound by vibrating violently to scare away predators. and yeah... it is a defense mechanism that might not be very visually scary.

BUT i know i sure as hell wouldn't want any smoke with anything that would be making that sound (LOL) and i believe it could be one more thing that's symbolic of the dual nature of the creature in relation to harvey/two's as well (the hickory horned caterpillar is physically imposing to predators and/or threats while the later phase of its life that it spends as the regal moth defends itself through a much more lowkey defense mechanism called crypsis, or tree coloration. this is basically just another way to say they use chamouflauge to blend in with their environment NGL haha).

also, the last thing i have on these bad boys in relation to harvey/two's is that they are in fact that largest caterpillar in north america, so i also thought that would apply to them. they are quite tall after all but yeah! i am now done with my explanation, and i hope you liked it :) photo's of the caterpillar and moth will be under the cut!!

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

get catterpillered your new mission is to spread joy and pictures to others

CATERPILLAR

have a caterpillar too!

This is the Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar! They look scary and ferocious, and is quite large. But they are not harmful at all. And when they grow, they become Regal Moths!

Isn't she pretty?? That nice orange hue and white patches. They're also quite big.

[cypherdecypher]

can we request animals? If so, if like to request the regal moth and it's corresponding caterpillar, commonly known as the hickory horned devil. It goes from fat and spiky as a caterpillar(with markings that look like a skull at the right angle) to a fat and fuzzy moth, which is everything a moth could possibly aspire to be. Also they're huge.

Of course! I adore weird looking caterpillars so this little guy will absolutely be added to the list. Expect a post on them within the next few days.