You never know what interesting wildlife visitors you’ll find around our farm. We routinely survey our fields for pests, beneficial insects and other wildlife. Yesterday evening, I had the good fortune of coming across this beautiful caterpillar in one of the raspberry rows. I took a picture because it looked so interesting, and so I could identify it later. Turns out this was a very special visitor: a “paddle caterpillar”. Apparently it is extremely rare to see these caterpillars out in the wild, so much so that according to various insect field guides, entomologists and other insect enthusiasts consider the paddle caterpillar a “holy grail” sighting that they spend their whole careers hoping to see! The particular caterpillar I saw is likely finishing its feeding phase and will soon find a spot to spin a cocoon where it will live during the winter months before emerging as a “funerary dagger moth” next spring or summer. A pretty cool find on a random Sunday at the farm!
