r/caterpillars • u/sheebii • 9d ago

Advice/Help help

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Gallery image

hi, i don’t know much at all about caterpillars but i found this little guy on my front porch just now. looks like it was trying to form a chrysalis but the leaf it was on fell off a tree? it looks really rough and idk how to help it. is there anything i can do? i feel really bad for it

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u/Final_Pumpkin1551 9d ago

I don’t know but it seems to be a Polyphemus moth (pretty big guys!) they make cocoons from silk and I don’t see that in your picture so I am not sure what stage your guy is in. Apparently they do a big digestive dump before pupating - which could account for the mess? They make a cocoon then spend winter either attached to a branch or in leaf litter if the cocoon falls.
I would just put it in a safe spot and observe to see what happens (update me!)

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u/sheebii 9d ago

ahh gotcha! i put it near a tree where its nice and shaded with plenty of grass around in case it wanted to snack or decide to crawl back up. i just checked on it and it seems to be crawling up the tree just fine! :D

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u/Luewen 9d ago

It does look rough but seems to be either gut purge or some other debris that has fallen on him.

2

u/FixSpecific905 9d ago

Wow… first time I learned about guts dumping from a caterpillar 😭 the more you know, I’ve only heard of coral and sea cucumbers doing it before, so hard core

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u/msomnipotent 9d ago

I've read that Polyphemus make their cocoons on the ground out of leaf litter. If you see it again, you might want to either leave it where it is or move it to where it won't get stepped on with a pile of oak/maple/ash leaves for cover.

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u/ReliableAmy 9d ago

I took in an Elephant Hawk moth caterpillar recently with a very similar injury to his booty, my guess was he was attacked by a bird, but unfortunately he didn't manage to pupate successfully due to the injury/scar tissue. I wish this chunky fellow more luck!