Another mystery Louisiana catapillar

[Brodybreaux25]

Got a new one, never seen one of these before. I found him rolled up in a leaf from my green bean plant. He is actually kind of aggressive, if I put my finger close to him, not touching him, he will lash out and try to bite me. Never heard of an aggressive catapillar before. He is about 1-1/4” and had some strands of silk that were holding the leaf in a rolled up position before I found him.

@Motherlode Chameleon What is he?

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

That is a great question. I am not acquainted with the insects of Louisiana. However on a bean plant a legume I would say some kind of moth or butterfly. I have not got a bug guide to Louisiana to key and ID exactly what family and species this specimen is. However he almost looks more like a beetle grub or a beetle larva not a butterfly/moth caterpillar.

I don't have the literature to ID this guy at here. However I have the resources to ID him from a couple of colleagues. You Okay if I show your picture to a couple of people? I am friends with a couple of entomologists.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Remkon]

I reverse image searched it on google and the best result I got was this topic... Hurray for google!

 

[Remkon]

Normal search makes me think it looks like : Urbanus proteus

 

[Brodybreaux25]

However he almost looks more like a beetle grub or a beetle larva not a butterfly/moth caterpillar.

That explains why I couldn’t find anything close to him in my bug guides, and yes anything you want to do is fine with me. You have always been very helpful!

 

[Brodybreaux25]

That is a great question. I am not acquainted with the insects of Louisiana. However on a bean plant a legume I would say some kind of moth or butterfly. I have not got a bug guide to Louisiana to key and ID exactly what family and species this specimen is. However he almost looks more like a beetle grub or a beetle larva not a butterfly/moth caterpillar.

I don't have the literature to ID this guy at here. However I have the resources to ID him from a couple of colleagues. You Okay if I show your picture to a couple of people? I am friends with a couple of entomologists.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

What about the aggression? Ever heard of an aggressive worm or grub? That really caught me off guard...

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Normal search makes me think it looks like : Urbanus proteus

Possibly. Entomology normally is not my thing normally. However your ID does look like a Long Tail Skipper Urbanus proteus. I shall have a go to confirm this officially.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[Brodybreaux25]

That’s him!

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Normal search makes me think it looks like : Urbanus proteus

Looks like you were right. How do you do a reverse image search?

 

[Remkon]

Looks like you were right. How do you do a reverse image search?

when you go to google images you can click the camera icon.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

So I decided to go see how many of these things have infested my beans and unfortunately they are everywhere. They are pretty easy to spot, all you have to do is follow the chewed leaves and then find them leaf that’s got a corner folded over.

When I found the first one I assumed that I had caught it in the middle of building it’s cocoon but now I don’t think so. If they were about to cocoon I would think that only the big ones would be doing it but that’s not the case. After a closer look there are about a billion tiny ones mixed in with the big ones. They do the exact same thing, chew a tear into the side of the leaf and then fold it over themselves securing it with a couple strands of silk. You can see both the little ones and big ones in the pic below.

So now my question is why do they do this? Just a hiding spot or some other reason? The last two pics are to show how small the small ones really are compared to the big ones.

 

[RobTheChameleonLover]

So are they poisonous to chams? Just wounder about that.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

When you are looking for caterpillars and moths for food items for chameleons. I would say for the majority stay with Silk Worms and for green feeders Horn Worms. The wild caught caterpillars and moths normally are more of vectors for pathogens other wild caught nasty's. That is unless you are breeding captive colonies yourself or feed the adult moths as an occasional treat. I would probable just say/recommend for the most part staying with the commercially bred caterpillars for your chameleons.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich