Photos: Caterpillars And What They Become - Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension - University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Photo Gallery: Caterpillars and what they Become

: Full-grown caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail (other names: Eastern Black Swallowtail, American Swallowtail, Parsnip Swallowtail, Parsley Caterpillar, Celeryworm, and Caraway worm)

: Chrysalis of the Black Swallowtail, supported by two strands of silk called a silk girdle (‘brown’ form of chrysalis shown here; there is also a ‘green’ form which is green)

: Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly (newly emerged from its chrysalis which can be seen in the bottom left of the image) (Etna, ME; 6/19/2019)

: Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly (male) — Papilio polyxenes (Etna, ME; 6/19/2019)

: Browntail Moth (late instar caterpillar stage)

: Comparison of four different caterpillar species in Maine that are sometimes difficult for people to differentiate, and oak is one of the hosts they all have in common (Photographed: central Maine; 6/12/2022) (Eastern Tent caterpillar, Spongy caterpillar, Forest Tent caterpillar, and the Browntail caterpillar)

: Browntail Caterpillars on a crabapple tree in Waterville, Maine; 5/12/2021 (Photo courtesy of Jamie Graves)

: Browntail Moth (southern Penobscot County, Maine; 6/28/2021)

: Cecropia Caterpillars

: Cecropia Caterpillars

: Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia)

: Cecropia Moth

: Fall Webworm caterpillar (early stage of development) (these build nests but they are not considered to harm most trees that are generally healthy)

: Pair of Fall Webworm caterpillars feeding on a crabapple leaf

: A mature Fall Webworm larva (Farmington, ME; 9/5/2020)

: Fall Webworm Moth

: Garden Tiger Caterpillar (also called Great Tiger) (Monhegan Island, ME; 9/12/2011)

: Garden Tiger Caterpillar

: Garden Tiger Moth / Great Tiger Moth (Arctia caja)

: Green-striped Mapleworm Caterpillar (turns into the Rosy Maple Moth) (Dryocampa rubicunda) (Orono, ME; 7/26/2022) (Photo courtesy of Wendy Morrill)

: Rosy Maple Moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) (Etna, ME; 6/19/2021)

: Rosy Maple Moth (older specimen) (Dryocampa rubicunda) (Etna, ME; 5/27/2021)

: 2nd instar Spongy moth caterpillar (males go through five instar stages, while females go through six; each stage lasts about two weeks depending on weather)

: 3rd instar Lymantria dispar caterpillar (6/17/2019; Turner, Maine)

: 4th instar Lymantria dispar (Spongy Moth) caterpillar

: Lymantria dispar (final instar/mature larva)

: Lymantria dispar (final instar/mature larva) (Common Name: Spongy Moth)

: A pair of Spongy Moth (Lymantria dispar) pupae

: Spongy Moth (Lymantria dispar) (male)

: Spongy Moth (Lymantria dispar) (female) (Dixmont, ME; 7/12/2021)

: Horned Spanworm (a.k.a. Filament Bearer) (Washington County, Maine; 6/24/2004)

: Horned Spanworm Moth (a.k.a. Filament Bearer) (shown with the empty pupa from which it emerged) (Washington County, Maine; 9/29/2008)

: Pantry Moths / Flour Moths (Plodia interpunctella) (plus larvae and the webbing that the larvae spin)

: A mature Pantry Moth / Flour Moth (Plodia interpunctella) larva with some of its silk webbing that they spin (you can see the webbing between the larva and the coin)

: Magnified view of a mature Pantry Moth / Flour Moth larva

: Pantry Moth / Flour Moth (Plodia interpunctella)

: Pantry Moth / Flour Moth (Plodia interpunctella) (newly-emerged; 4/23/2021)

: Full-grown caterpillar of the Luna Moth

: Full-grown caterpillar of the Luna Moth

: Pair of Luna Moth caterpillars

: Luna Moth

: Luna Moth

: Mourning Cloak Caterpillar (Nymphalis antiopa)

: Mourning Cloak chrysalis

: Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)

: Egg stage of a Monarch (on host plant, milkweed) (eggs hatch after roughly four days)

: Monarch caterpillar (1st-instar stage) (on host plant, milkweed) (August 9th, 2019; central Maine)

: Monarch caterpillar (2nd-instar stage) (on host plant, milkweed) (August 9th, 2019; central Maine)

: Monarch caterpillar (4th-instar stage) (on host plant, milkweed) (August 9th, 2019; Warren, Maine)

: A mature Monarch caterpillar (5th instar) – Warren, ME (8/9/2019) (on host plant, milkweed)

: Monarch caterpillars (5th and final instar stage) (on host plant, milkweed)

: A Monarch chrysalis a few days away from butterfly emergence (8/29/2006)

: A Monarch chrysalis in an advanced stage (final minutes before adult emergence)

: A Monarch butterfly newly-emerged (Their wings are small at first but within a matter of minutes they slowly expand to full size as fluid from the body is pumped into the wings)

: A young Monarch butterfly resting on a rose (central Maine)

: Monarch Butterfly feeding on a red clover blossom; 8/20/2018. Turner, Maine.

: Painted Lady caterpillar (Vanessa cardui) feeding on borage/starflower (Morrill, ME; 7/25/2023) (Photo courtesy of C. Chalmers)

: Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui) (Schoodic Point in Winter Harbor, Maine; 10/10/2017)

: Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui) (Camden, Maine; 8/14/2017)

: Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica) (Orono, ME; 3/10/2022) (Photo credit: courtesy of Edward S. Grew)

: Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica) (Pittston, ME; 6/24/2022)

: Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica) on Valerian flowers (Orono, ME; 7/7/2022) (Photo credit: courtesy of Edward S. Grew)

Various Other Caterpillars (with links to other sites for adult-stage images):

See also: Caterpillars of Eastern Forests (PDF) (US Forest Service) and some examples of sawfly larvae which highly resemble caterpillars (scroll to bottom of page).

: American Dagger Caterpillar (Acronicta americana) (very large host range) (Stetson, ME; 10/8/2010)

: American Dagger Caterpillar (Acronicta americana)

: American Lappet (Phyllodesma americana) (Buxton, ME; 9/1/2023) (Photo courtesy of Vanessa Cariddi)

: Banded Tussock (Halysidota tessellaris) (Hollis, ME; 9/8/2023) (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Saunders)

: Banded Tussock (most of the long hairs on this specimen have broken off; it’s a defensive adaptation) (9/3/2020; Bucksport, ME; photo courtesy of Hannah A.)

: Pair of Brown-hooded Owlet Caterpillars (Cucullia convexipennis). They feed principally on asters and goldenrods, but presumably on other Asteraceae plants as well.

: Common Stalk Borer

: A nest of Eastern Tent Caterpillars (Mid-May, 2012; Aurora, ME)

: A mature Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Central Maine: June 5th, 2015)

: Euonymus Caterpillars

: A heavy infestation of Euonymus caterpillars

: A fully-grown Forest Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) on a rosebush (Etna, ME; 6/4/2015)

: Comparing the Eastern Tent Caterpillar (bottom) with a Forest Tent Caterpillar (above). Both were feeding on the leaves of a wild apple tree. The Eastern tent caterpillars make silken nests in the forks of their host trees whereas the forest tent caterpillars make no nests at all, in spite of having “tent” in their name (Etna, ME; 6/5/2015)

: Fall Armyworm Caterpillar (on a corn leaf)

: Galium Sphinx / Bedstraw Sphinx (Hyles gallii) (Fayette, ME; 7/6/2022) (Photo courtesy of Ellen Lamb)

: Galium Sphinx / Bedstraw Sphinx (Hyles gallii) (placed in this random area on the ground only for photo purposes) (Oct. 22nd, 2019)

: Galium Sphinx (also called Bedstraw Sphinx as bedstraw is one of its ‘preferred’ hosts, along with fireweed and other plants in the evening primrose family) (Oct. 22nd, 2019)

: Galium Sphinx pupa (the same caterpillar shown in the two adjacent left images, after it had pupated) (11/6/2019)

: Gray Furcula (Furcula cinerea) (Sebago, ME; 7/27/2022) (Photo courtesy of Kim Colson)

: Hickory Tussock Caterpillar (the hairs on many tussock caterpillars can cause an itchy rash)

: Io Caterpillar (Automeris io) – Plymouth, Maine (August 11, 2019) (possesses stinging spines)

: Large Gray Dagger (Acronicta insita) (named for how gray the moth is) (Sanford, Maine; host tree was Corkscrew Willow; 9/27/2021) (larvae feed on alder, birch, poplar, hawthorn and willow) (Photo courtesy of Janet Nittolo)

: “The Laugher” Caterpillar (Bangor, Maine; 9/22/2017) (easy to confuse with the Hickory Tussock caterpillar)

: “The Laugher” Caterpillar – Charadra deredens (Photo courtesy of Becky B.) (Georgetown, ME 9/12/2020)

: Laurel Sphinx (Sphinx kalmiae) (Orono, ME; 8/3/2022) (Photo courtesy of Wendy Morrill)

: Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar

: Northern Pine Sphinx (Lapara bombycoides) (Photo courtesy of J&S Grant) (Plymouth, ME – late August, 2020)

: Paddle Caterpillar (rare), Acronicta funeralis (or Funerary Dagger Moth caterpillar) (Hartland, ME; July 26, 2020) (Photo courtesy of Lachlan Ainsworth)

: Pandora Sphinx (Eumorpha pandorus) feeding on grape (Brunswick, Maine; 8/29/2022) (Photo courtesy of the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust)

: Saddled Prominent (Heterocampa guttivitta); Acadia National Park (South Bubble trail); August 5th, 2020.

: Saddleback Caterpillar (turns into a moth) (possesses stinging spines)

: Spiny Oak-slug (Euclea delphinii) (possesses stinging spines) (Oakland, ME; 9/9/2022) (Photo courtesy of Leanne Clark)

: Spotted Tussock

: Tobacco Hormworm (left) and a Tomato Hornworm (right); many people in Maine encounter tobacco hornworms but incorrectly call them tomato hornworms.

: Collection of Hornworm Photos, including the Laurel Sphinx (USGS)

: White-lined Sphinx (Hyles lineata) (Auburn, ME; 9/17/2022) (Photo courtesy of Linda DeSantis)

: White-streaked Prominent (Oligocentria lignicolor); Boothbay, ME (8/26/2010)

: White-streaked Prominent (Oligocentria lignicolor); Boothbay, ME (8/26/2010)

: Woollybear Caterpillars (Banded Woollybear)

: Yellow Bear Caterpillar / Yellow Woollybear (Spilosoma virginica) (Greenville, ME; 9/4/2011)

: Yellow Bear Caterpillar / Yellow Woollybear (Spilosoma virginica) (Orono, ME; 8/25/2022) (Photo courtesy of Edward S. Grew)

: Yellownecked Caterpillars (photo courtesy of J. St. Clair; August 14, 2013)

: Yellowstriped Armyworm caterpillar (Spodoptera ornithogalli) (Belgrade, ME; July 28th, 2021) (photo courtesy of Leilani Carlson)

Links to Images of Adult Stage:

American Dagger Moth (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
American Lappet Moth (BugGuide.net)
Banded Tussock (BugGuide.net)
Brown-hooded Owlet Moth (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
Common Stalk Borer (Iowa State University)
Eastern Tent Caterpillar (moth stage) (BugGuide.net)
Euonymus Moth (BugGuide.net)
Fall Armyworm Moth (BugGuide.net)
Forest Tent Caterpillar (moth stage) (BugGuide.net)
Galium Sphinx Moth (BugGuide.net)
Grey Furcula Moth (BugGuide.net)
Hickory Tussock (Hickory Tiger) (moth stage) (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
Horned Spanworm (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
Io Moth (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
Large Gray Dagger (BugGuide.net)
Laugher (Moth) (BugGuide.net)
Laurel Sphinx Moth (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
Milkweed Tussock Moth (also known as a Milkweed Tiger Moth) (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
Northern Pine Sphinx Moth (BugGuide.net)
Paddle Moth / Funerary Dagger Moth (rare) (BugGuide.net)
Pandora Sphinx Moth (BugGuide.net)
Saddled Prominent Moth (North American Moth Photographers Group)
Slug Caterpillars (BugGuide.net)
- Saddleback Moth (Butterflies and Moths of North America project)
- Spiny Oak-slug Moth (BugGuide.net)
Spotted Tussock Moth (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
‘The Laugher’ (Moth) (BugGuide.net)
Tobacco Hornworm Moth (also called Carolina Sphinx) (Butterflies and Moths of North America Project)
White-lined Sphinx Moth (BugGuide.net)
White-streaked Prominent (BugGuide.net)
Woollybear Moths (BugGuide.net): Banded Woollybear (Isabella Tiger Moth) and Yellow Woollybear (Virginian Tiger Moth)
Yellownecked Moth (Butterflies and Moths of North America project)
Yellowstriped Armyworm Moth (BugGuide.net)

Examples of Sawfly Larvae:

Sawfly larvae look like caterpillars but they are actually the larvae of primitive wasp-like insects.

: Dogwood Sawfly larvae [Photo courtesy of Val Libby, Blue Hill (Maine) on 1 Aug. 2021]

: Dogwood Sawfly Larvae on a dogwood (middle instar stage) (7/17/2020) (Photo courtesy of Susan; Monroe, ME) (compare with adjacent photos of the final two instar stages which are very different)