Pickle was found in McLaughlin Park. Clearly, he’s caterpillar of some sort that is destined to be a more recognizable butterfly or moth. He has long orange “hairs” projecting forward in bundles near the anterior end.

Interesting fact about caterpillar eyes is that they have six pairs of simple eyespots (ocelli).  Under a microscope, they look like googly eye stickers. These eyespots can detect light but can not resolve an image. These eyes are very different from the pair of compound eyes that are found on the mature butterfly or moth.

Results

It was revealed from sequencing that Pickle is a sycamore tussock moth (Halysidota harrisii) caterpillar. This caterpillar will make itself at home in our NYC Parks because of the overabundance of London Plane trees. Sycamore Tussock caterpillars are named for their feeding on sycamore trees (Genus Platanus) or which London Planes are hybrids (Platanus x acerifolia).  One can compare our sequence with those from BOLD.

Reference

The adult moth looks very different.