A walk in New Jersey

August 17, 2015December 23, 2019 Julie Feinstein Blogs, Wildlife

I took a nice long walk in New Jersey today.

I was about an hour’s drive from New York City in Hopewell.

It looked like this…

I saw this huge caterpillar, fat, and about 4 inches long. It’s a Pandorus Sphinx moth caterpillar, Eumorphapandorus. It’s one of the caterpillars commonly called a hornworm, because in its younger stages it sports a horn on its rearend (which is on the left in this photo). Click to enlarge.

The spot where the horn grows becomes a button on later-stage caterpillars like this one. It’s that eye-like black spot-in-a-circle. One of its foods is Virginia creeper; there was lots of it around.

And lots of butterflies. The one on the left in this picture, is a female clouded sulphur. On the right, in flight and blurry, is an orange sulphur male. These two species sometimes hybridize so they may have been up to something.

And this young fellow peeked out from the trees.

Julie Feinstein

I am a Collection Manager at the American Museum of Natural History, an author, and a photographer. I live in New York City. I recently published my first popular science book, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, an illustrated collection of natural history essays about common animals. I update my blog, Urban Wildlife Guide, every Sunday.

Julie Feinstein

I am a Collection Manager at the American Museum of Natural History, an author, and a photographer. I live in New York City. I recently published my first popular science book, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, an illustrated collection of natural history essays about common animals. I update my blog, Urban Wildlife Guide, every Sunday.

A walk in New Jersey

Julie Feinstein

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