11 October 2011

What the ....?

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I first noticed this little sucker when I was moving a branch that had fallen, felt something squishy, and smelled something gross. I'm not going to lie -- it freaked me out. It looked like something from Alice in Wonderland. I figured it must be a caterpillar, but what was it doing out in fall? I had never seen anything like it. Despite the fact that H wanted to squish it, I moved it onto a tree. And then it did this:

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Yikes! Turns out though, it's a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (I think, according to Google images). And it does emit a foul odor when threatened. And has an "orange osmerterium" that looks like a forked snake tongue. Pretty gross. But pretty neat.

4 comments:

david j said...

freaky as all get out....Alice In Wonderland hmmm....ever seen a Miyazaki movie? Spirited Away? It looks like something he would dream up, smell too.
Are you keeping track of it?

Mel said...

Whoa that is totally amazing! Puts the pictures I took of the praying mantis in my yard to shame. It looks like someone drew the eyes on it! Very cool.

Heidi said...

How very cool - Ted was amazed!

Ali said...

Omg I thought it was a toy the boys put out to scare you! That thing is nuts!