My daughter and I recently found a new trail for riding our bikes called the Mississippi River Regional Trail. It’s a lovely paved combined bike/walking path that we’re able to pick up just a short distance from home, only having to ride about 2 miles on low traffic city streets to get to.
This past weekend we went riding a bit earlier in the day than usual and it must have been an active time of the day for caterpillars, because they were out crawling all over the place, we had to keep our eyes focused down on the path to avoid running them over. It was really something!
And it was really fun. We stopped a number of times along the way so my daughter could “play” with them. Any opportunity to enjoy nature up-close is always a fun thing for us. 😀
And as often as we’ve done that over the years, we’ve never come across the likes of this guy before! The biggest caterpillar either of us have ever seen…
It was so freaking huge! And really amazing!
After we got home we wanted to find out what kind it was, and after a bit of internet research came to the conclusion that it’s the caterpillar of a Leafy Spurge Hawk Moth.
And take a look at what a gorgeous moth it is…
Wow, just beautiful! And apparently it’s a daytime flying moth, so maybe we’ll get the chance to see one on one of our bike rides sometime.
We also came across this fuzzy little guy…
Which we think is the caterpillar of a White Tiger Moth.
And this one…
A Wooly Bear Caterpillar. So cute!
All along the trail they have these signs posted…
But clearly one must also take care even while on the trail. Maybe they should add a “Caterpillar Crossing” sign. 😉
~
✿~Peace & Love~✿
Ramblings From Jewels 
Wonderful photographs here Julie. Funnily enough, I have just come away from another blog that I subscribe to in which the article under discussion concerned butterflies, caterpillars, pupae and so forth.
All best wishes.
Hariod.
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Thanks so much Hariod, all three of those caterpillars we’re quite active and moving around a lot, so it was a bit tricky catching clear photos of them.
Sounds like I may not be the only one seeing so many butterflies and now caterpillars, it must be that as we’re entering September now with autumn on its way, all of the little nectar gathering creatures are very busy out there doing their thing. 🙂
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Wow – that first caterpillar is gorgeous!
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It really was cool looking, I would love to see it in its moth stage!
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I love it–Caterpillar Crossing. You came across some beauties that I have never seen before. Huge, too!
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😀
That first one really was a cool thing to see, such interesting markings, and so big!
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I loved the pictures. What a great day.
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So glad you liked them! It was a lot of fun. 🙂
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What fun Julie. 🙂 Your photos are great and that is an awesome caterpillar. I love that you two take time to enjoy and play with the critters along the trail of life. To more critter crossings, XD
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It was fun, thanks Brad! 🙂 That really was an awesome caterpillar! I gotta hand it to my daughter for “playing” with it though, I’m a bit squeamish when it comes to insects of any sort and wouldn’t have wanted that huge thing crawling on me. It’s more of a “Look with your eyes, not with your hands” kind of situation for me. 😉 But gosh, it was so cool!
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Wow! That’s loads more colourful than the one I found in England. Isn’t it weird how an ocean between things can make them so different?
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It is weird, and interesting! 😀
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🙂
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Amazing Julie … I’ve never seen anything the likes of that big guy. As Richard says, our caterpillars are not so brawny!
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Thanks Lorna, it really was an amazing thing to see! 🙂
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That caterpillar was introduced from Europe in the 1960s as a biological way to fight the invasive leafy spurge plants.
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Yes, I was reading about that when I was looking around online for information about it, but I hadn’t heard if it has made much of a difference or not.
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I ride the Great River Trail on the MIssissippi-kindred spirits-lol…love riding the MIssissippi from spring to early winter-the best. I have NEVER seen a caterpillar with markings as beautiful as that one…that is a piece of living art! too beautiful..all those patters:-) thank you for sharing that picture-truly beautiful:-)
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It’s so lovely riding along the river, isn’t it? We saw a couple of deer today on our bike ride, and that was such a surprise! I know, that caterpillar really had such wonderful markings, gotta love the art of nature! 😀
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yes it is:-) I moved here about 30 years ago and missed Lake Michigan at first( where I grew up), but “she” ( Mississippi River) grows on you + I love riding her every year! The best part is when you ride out against a wind and catch the wind back…feel like a little kid again! The best!
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The wind at your back is really great! 😀 But oh my gosh it was very windy that day, on our are way back home we were riding against the wind and it was brutal, we actually had to stop at a rest area to catch our breath!
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been there done that! Sometimes I am against the wind and it is blowing so hard, as I pass people walking, I am going no faster than they are walking against the wind on the MIssissippi River…I should just get off and walk-lol, but I keep on plugging away..I know when I see the white caps on water…oh boy in for a rough ride!:-)
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Haha yep! We noticed white caps on the water on our ride out and I commented how I love that, but then on the way home against the wind, I was thinking that should have given me a clue haha!
I didn’t have the option of walking my bike, as walking is difficult for me because of my knees, but my daughter did walk her bike part of the way and I was going the same speed as her!
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I think they should put up a Caterpillar Crossing sign! I always try to avoid running over the little guys. I’ve never seen the first two caterpillars! We have the wooly bears but I didn’t see too many this year. Not a lot of butterflies either.
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They have deer crossing and duck crossing signs, so why not a caterpillar crossing, gotta watch out for those little guys too. Or big guys… I still can’t get over how big that one was! 😀
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Wow! Am not so good with creepy crawlies but that caterpillar was a beauty. Lovely to be visiting you just now Julie and catching up! xxxx
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I’m not so good with creepy crawlies either! As you can see, it’s my daughter who is handling them! 😉
And it’s lovely to have you visiting, hoping you’re faring alright there my friend. xx ❤
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