Is it a caterpillar or a crocodile?

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zarikoff, 09.08.2009 21:41

We found a caterpillar in a suburban area (near Moscow). There is no photo, but it may be possible to get it (neighbors took the caterpillar, they want to show it to biologists they know). Black and green, the size of a finger (length and thickness), a spike (like a horn) sticks out on the tail. I was struck by her muzzle - two huge black eyes on a semi-circular greenish snout, really, just a character from horror movies, full of a sense of aggressive, meaningful gaze. The finish came when the caterpillar sitting in the bottle calmed down: its muzzle stretched out and began to resemble a crocodile in shape..... Instead of a semi-circular snout, a long elongated mouth. None of us have ever seen anything like it. Tell me, gentlemen of science, what is it that lives in our neighborhood???

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09.08.2009 22:09, mikee

We found a caterpillar in a suburban area (near Moscow). There is no photo, but it may be possible to get it (neighbors took the caterpillar, they want to show it to biologists they know). Black and green, the size of a finger (length and thickness), a spike (like a horn) sticks out on the tail. I was struck by her muzzle - two huge black eyes on a semi-circular greenish snout, really, just a character from horror movies, full of a sense of aggressive, meaningful gaze. The finish came when the caterpillar sitting in the bottle calmed down: its muzzle stretched out and began to resemble a crocodile in shape..... Instead of a semi-circular snout, a long elongated mouth. None of us have ever seen anything like it. Tell me, gentlemen of science, what is it that lives in our neighborhood???

This is the caterpillar of the moth "hawk moth wine medium". In Latin-Deilephila elpenor. View here: http://lepidoptera.ru/species/deilephila-elpenor If you want to learn more, type a Russian or Latin name in any search engine.