Giant atlas moth Caterpillar

A difficult safari today. Insects are thin on the ground at first light, but it just never got going. I started at 05:45am and looking at the EXIF data, I did not get my first keeper until 06:41. Creeping around for an hour before I got my first shot and that was an ant! When it is this bad, it makes you stare harder and after a while things start to become visible that you have never seen before.

The find of the day was this huge caterpillar hidden behind a couple of leaves which I clipped off for the shoot. Not the longest caterpillar that I have seen, but at 2.5" big enough, but easily the fattest.

It looked disgusting and yet it had beauty, will be interesting to read what you think. I don't know the species yet, but it is probably going to be a moth, the most impressive caterpillars always are.

When I found the grub, it looked quite dead. I gave it a poke and it was stiff like a dead pillar. I was about to walk away when it started moving. What a great defense strategy, as most predators like wasps and spiders will only take live food.

Update - this is the caterpillar of Attacus Atlas giant atlas moth, generally accepted as the largest moth in the world. I am tempted to go back and collect for observation, but the caterpillar is hardly half grown and will eventually top 5" in length. I think it better to leave it in the wild.

Dave