#hickory horned devil

[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.

[jadafitch]

Regal Moth Stickers! New to my Etsy Shop

[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

[ketrinadrawsalot]

JuneBug: Hickory Horned Angel (Citheronia regalis)

[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

[corvidaearts]

I’m slowly starting to finalize some ideas I have for @definitelynotshouting​'s hunger au designs!

There’s still a lot of particular things I have stored in mind but since this was supposed to be more of a quick-hand reference, I’m not implementing as much of them in here bc they’re mostly subtle/very intricate stuff.

[astralspeckart]

Colored Nolo doodles. The neck fluff is actually a scarf the wears and not natural floof :)

[onenicebugperday]

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

(Video shared with permission of the original poster)

[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!

[cavaliersecondary]

[thegreatestheaver]

OH. OH SO CUTE I WISH I COULD CROCHET I WANT THIS LAD SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! iwoudl put him in my pocket and. carry him arounf everywhere:)

would you still love me if i was a worm? 🐛💛

(free pattern here!)

[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.

[alllgator-blood]

*throws leshy at you and leaves* I'M HAVING KIND OF A WEIRD TERRIBLE TIME AND MIGHT TAKE A FEW MORE DAYS TO GET TO MY MESSAGES AND POSTING DAILY AGAIN. My meds are kicking my ass but I'm *just* autistic enough that my fucking chokehold on this video game overpowers the zoloft urge to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling for 12 hours until I fall asleep. I'm just glad I'm easily entertained because setting leshy up with one of my old testosterone bottles and giving kallamar a (blunt tip) needle was the highlight of my day. AND MAKING LESHY EAT ADDERALL LIKE KIBBLE. I LOVE PLAYING WITH TOYS AS AN ADULT

I've been debating giving leshy a different colored face pretty much since I started drawing him pre-schism, I wanted him to look more like a hickory horned devil made out of wood + leaves so I pulled the trigger on giving him a little brown spot where his eyes are. I like it a lot more than just keeping his face all green, idk why I didn't do this before??

I used pipe cleaners for his little branches, drew all the wood grain on him with a fabric marker, and I REALLY want to shoot a video sometime of me shaking him because he moves *just* like I hoped he would when I first made fanart of him. He's just a bunch of wood segments that flop around but never fall over, it's kinda awesome. He unironically doubles as a stim toy

He's also......really fucking big for some reason......kallamar was the guinea pig for these felt plush fellas but he's like TINY compared to shamura and leshy which is hilarious. I personally think all the bishops grow dynamically with how old they are, so the oldest is tallest and youngest is smallest, but not with these stupid felt creatures apparently

[shamebats]

"I’m a moth biologist who loves rpdr. Here are some queens and their moth (or caterpillar!) doppelgängers, from the bottom of my little heart, please enjoy"

(via r/rupaulsdragrace)

Trixie and rosy maple moth, Dryocampa rubicunda

Monet X Change and garden tiger moth, Arctia caja

Bianca Del Rio and Spilosoma multigutatta

Violet Chachki and Luna moth, Actias luna

Yvie Oddly and hickory horned devil, Citheronia regalis

Tatianna and Platyja exequialis

Jinkx Monsoon and Rupela albina

Vivacious (and Ornacia) and the "mad hatterpillar" Uraba lugens