Rewilding My Lot

One evening while I was looking closely at my Frogfruit, I saw what looked like a piece of dirt moving around. On closer examination I saw it had legs!

This is the caterpillar of a moth in the genus Synchlora. Adults often have green wings, while larvae occasionally adorn themselves with pieces of plants to camouflage themselves. This is presumably what I am seeing!

Synchlora belong to the family of Geometer (Geometridae) moths, so-called because their larvae move in a distinctive way that appears to be measuring (“metron” in Greek) the earth (“geo” in Greek). We know them as inchworms for that reason.

Here’s a fun article about the larva of Synchlora aerata — a Camouflaged Looper — with photos of the various disguises that it adopted while the photographer was watching it.