"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
Monkey Slug Moth (Hag Moth)
Phobetron pithecium fam. Limacodidae
Host plant: Found on oak (Quercus sp)
Date found: 02, Sep, 2024
Location Found: Hickory Canyon Natural Area, Ste. Genevieve County, MO
Notes: One theory to explain their appearance is that they evolved to mimic the shed exoskeletons of tarantulas.
The final and perhaps most stunning of the slug moth caterpillars that we were able to find this past summer was the Monkey Slug, or “Hag Moth” caterpillar. This particular one was first noticed by Sarah on the upper side of a dogwood leaf during a visit to Horseshoe Bend Natural Area near Houston MO. We went on to find two in this particular tree.
A leading thought on why these guys look the way they do is to mimic the shed exoskeleton of a tarantula.
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 