My wife found this in South Lake Tahoe in northern California. Any ideas what this is? Is it possible to have a pupa go through partial metamorphosis to a butterfly (or moth)?



Link to my flickr image.
Caterputterfly? | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I've searched the internet for quite some time but couldn't find any answers. I personally didn't spot it so I don't have much more information including exactly how large it was, but if you ask I can get the answers later.

Size would be helpful. Some of the features resemble those of a moth-fly but others do not if it's as big as it looks.

Thanks for replying. Some additional information:
It was about 3 inches long, 3/4" - 1" thick in it's body.
The yellow lines on the right are yellow antennae
When attempting to move it, it squirted a substance out of the rear of its abdomen.

Some more descriptions that are obvious in the picture:
Between the hairy segments on the body, the yellow sections are hairless
The face is completely hairy
The pink tufts of fur are right behind the wings.
Legs are only at the front part of the body, and it tended to pull the rest of its body forward.

Truly odd... they ended up flinging it a few feet away and it made a thud (apparently) indicating it must have really had some mass to it...

That is a moth of some type. Moth antennae are either filamentous or feathered. Butterfly antennae are clubbed.

Insects grow in stages in a process called molting where the previous exoskeleton is shed. There is usually more than one instar (stage) occurring in the larval or nymphal stages. Each stage becomes progressively larger. The advanced insects go through a single, motionless pupal stage. Then the fully formed, sexually mature, often winged adult emerges from the pupa. That's it. There are no stages for insects after the adult.

Moths and butterflies go through a complete metamorphosis, which is also called holometabolism, meaning that they change dramatically between egg, larvae, pupa, to adult.

Less advanced insects, like aphids, go through a less dramatic metamorphosis, where the most noticeable difference between nymph and adult is the presence of wings. There is no pupal stage. This type of metamorphosis is called hemimetabolism.

More primitive insects like silverfish do not change much at all, except for becoming sexually mature. This type of metamorphosis is called ametabolism.

Molting is controlled by many factors. One of the factors is a chemical prohormone known as ecdysone. Imbalances in this chemical can cause malformed insects. I've seen malformed wings in butterflies before. You could be looking at what is essentially a type of "birth" defect.

Also, when a butterfly or moth emerges from its pupa the wings are the last appendage to be formed and are formed by the insect expanding its wings with air brought in through its spiracles. If a moth or butterfly is interupted at this point its wings may not fully develop.

We saw this same mothy caterpillar thingy in South Lake Tahoe last week. Would love to know what it is.

Here is a picture.

Attached Images

 

I'll go with gnahcd on these. My guess would be someone has used and insect growth regulator on these creatures' mother. The pictures look similar enough to be from the same hatching.

What is an insect growth regulator?

Never mind - got my answer:

IGR: Insect Growth Regulator
What is an IGR?
Insect Growth Regulators (IGR’s) are chemicals such as hydroprene and methoprene, that disrupt and impede the life cycle of insects in the egg and larvae stage of development. The idea with an IGR is that if an insect cannot reach adulthood, it cannot reproduce. In short, IGR is a form of “birth control” for pests which helps keep the populations of unwanted pests under control by preventing current and future infestations.

Absolutely correct. I have seen the next generation after hydroprene application with some very odd deformities, although I have not seen the activity in moths before.

I think it's a Coloradia pandora.
Catipillar Moth - BugGuide.Net

Perhaps a Coloradia Doris, originally.

Visit YouTube - Velda Pine Moth emerging - expanding wings Fascinating time lapse of a Coloradia moth eclosing

I just saw this today on the Tahoe Rim Trail by Spooner Summit. It was really incredible; it was big, about 3 to 4 inches long, it's antenae looked exactly like short pine needles; same color and width as a pine needle. It's body looked exactly like tree bark and it had the red underneath it's strange short wings. It was wandering like a drunk over the ground; it was tripping and seemed not very effective at moving along. I found it so strange that I looked it up here to see what it was. It looked very much like the one pictured above except it seemed more perfectly camoflauged than the one above. If so many people are seeing these. It would seem that the IGR is not exactly working; am I right?

Please see photos and discussion here:
http://englishworldwide.ning.com/group/topic-of-the-day/forum/topics/can-anyone-help-me-identify-this-guy-gal

And

Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blogblossoms/sets/72157631922739676/

Quite similar in many ways (colors are obviously different).

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance (and thanks to Mona for referring me to this site),
Holly

I found one like it in West TX I took a few photos and after a few hours it almost finished changing. I am trying to see how to attach my photos.

Here are the Photos I took of my West TX Critter.

Attached Images