Anyone recognize this big caterpillar? EDIT: The mystery caterpillar of the day is a kind of Underwing moth, Catocala ilia. I feel pretty lucky to have found it, actually. Here's more info at Butterflies and Moths of North America. It's about 2.5 inches long, looks like bark, and when it flips upside-down to play dead, it's got a purple banded underside. It's pretty cool.
I'd like to help it make it to its next stage, but I don't know what its larval plant is. I'm going to start with Oak, as that's what I found it under. EDIT: This species is an eater of Oak leaves, so that's where I returned it to.
By the way, the picture on the left is of the caterpillar in a plastic 4-inch planter -- I know it looks like water, but it's dry, I promise.
I'm going with something from the Underwing family (Catocala), possibly an Ilia Underwing. They have the grey plated look and colored underside with dark banding.
I can't find a dorsal view that's as good as in my caterpillar guide, but here's a good ventral view:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/183149/bgimage
They eat oaks. You should be able to find a bit of that around. :)
Yeah, I narrowed it down to an Underwing after I posted the picture and updated the text but forgot to save it, so no one knew I'd made progress. Thanks for your search, though!
Here's the dorsal view I found at the same site.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/946/bgimage
After I realized it was a probably an Underwing, I let it out onto the oak tree it had been under and then went and got donuts, haha.
I have never seen such color - purplish!
Impressive ID of a very interesting critter.
My son just found one of these this morning; I live in Cobb County, GA. It is fascinating; when you touch it, it whips back and forth as if it's trying to grab your finger. Looks agressive (but isn't), and the bottom is simply spectactular!
Yes, they whip like crazy -- that's quite an amazing defense mechanism they've got. The underside is so unexpected, given that the rest of the caterpillar is perfectly camouflaged.