Another cat to ID ....

I looked and looked and can't find where I posted on a thread before about a cat I found eating one of my water plants. Well, I was cleaning out the dead leaves in my two little container ponds and found the cat. (Maybe not the same one, but one exactly like the one I saw a month ago.)

It appears to be eating my tropical waterlily leaves. Can anyone ID this little guy for me? He's not all that pretty, so is it possible he's a moth? (Though I know Moth cats can sometimes be the coolest looking cats of all! lol)

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww, that is gross Becky....................... I have a photo somewhere of a pretty one i found in my garden!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will post it on here if i can find it..........

This is him or her.............................. isnt it gorgeous??????????????

Becky, I have not found an ID on yours, but Mr C, that one is beautiful...is it a moth cat?

Hi Fly_Girl............
I have no idea what it is, but its gorgeous!!!! Someone told me it may be a poplar hawk moth!!!!

Fly_girl

Just sent an email to a fired who sent it to someone who is an authority............... andyway it turns out to be a Tussock moth.
So there we go!!!

Mark

It looks more like a Rusty Tussock moth cat, but not positive.

well, i don't know that much about moths etc so i dont know......................... maybe becky or Deb will know!

Hey Mark - should I dmail or email my cat photo to you so you could pass it along to your friend to also send to someone in the "know". Maybe he can ID mine, too! (Hint, hint....) lol

Hi Becky................................. yep send me it and i will pass it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
email me it sweetie.................

Here's one....I think they look similar

http://www.forestpests.org/caterpillars/rustytussockmoth.cfm

Becky

you have a D-Mail

Thanks, Mark. I sent you email with 2 photos of this ugly spud. Hope your friend's friend can ID it for me. I appreciate it.

By the way, your Moth cat is gorgeous! I'll have to search online to see what the Moth looks like. Very cool looking cat! What was it eating?

This message was edited Dec 30, 2006 8:01 PM

Becky
I have emailed the pic to him, may take a few days for him to get back to me.................... but i will let you know as soon as i know.......!!

Cant remember what my moth was on now........................ i took the photo earlier in the year!!
Yes it was a very cool looking cat................ i took it to test my camera out really!!!!! But kept the photo because the cat is pretty..............

Here's a website that shows what the Moth version of your cat looks like, Mark.

The cat is pretty neat looking, but the Moth is rather plain.

Hey..... maybe that means my ugly bug will be a BEAUTIFUL butterfly! Do you think? lol

Oops forgot to include the link:
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/Files/Live/Species/8000/8308.shtml

Awwwwwwwwwww, I thought he would grow to be a beautiful Moth..................... Oh well, thank you for finding him for me Becky........

Yes maybe ugly cats grow into beautiful Mots Or Butterflies.............. you never know!!!!

This is what the expert said about mine:

Mark,

Thanks for sharing your picture of the tussock moth larva.

Based on the information at , it appears that there perhaps 3 species in the genus Orgyia that reside in the UK, Orgyia antiqua, Orgyia recens, and Orgyia antiquoides.

Based on images at it is not O. recens and might be O. antiqua.

A picture at indicates it is not O. antiquoides.

Must be Orgyia antiqua. One of the common names for this insect is the Vapourer.

Good or what?

Wow! The guy is certainly an expert! Knows his latin names! Is he a researcher or biologist?

That's cool that we have a connection here for IDing cats and other creatures. Tell your friend - Thanks for hooking us up with an expert! :-)

Oh yes he certainly knows his stuff......................
I dont know exactly what he does do Becky.............. all i know is that he is a Forest Entomologist.........

Anyway, i am sure he will be able to sort out the name of yours in english and in latin. LOL

Mark just sent me this email:

"John got back to me............... Not good news!!!
This is the answer:

Sorry, Mark. I can't help you. It's not an insect I'm familiar with."

Perhaps I've discovered a NEW species of caterpillar and get to NAME IT! lol

I decided to post a photo on the water gardening forum to see if anyone over there knows what it is.

And I am posting another photo I took today. This cat is a little bigger and you can see the marking (stripes) on it's body now.

Take a good look and see if you can ID it for me. I'd sure love to know just what the heck it is. It is definitely a cat of some sort. Is this another one I need to cage and wait to see what it turns into? lol

Becky

Did you get the second email i sent so you know his credentials????????????

Yes, I did, Mark. The Entomologist you forwarded the info to is right here in Florida at the University of Florida
(in the Department of Entomology & Nematology).

FASCINATING! Do I get to name this "NEW" discovery????!! LOL!

And so the mystery continues ... Between the eggs on my Nasturtium and this cat, my yard is getting more interesting by the moment. Which is why I love gardening soooo much! Where else can you get this much excitement???!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL ~~~~~~

Okay. I'll calm down and go back into my cave now. (giggling)

LOL............................ awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, good to see you so excited Becky!!!!!!!

I am just sorry i couldnt help much..................

Mark

Mark - You tried, bless your heart!

No one on the bug forum or the water garden forum have been able to ID it either. So don't feel like you let me down ..... far from it. I appreciate the fact that you hooked us up with an Expert Entomologist.

Thanks!

Becky, that second one looks a little different, but it may be an armyworm or some kind of cutworm. Does it have a 'w' shape near the tail end?

fly_girl - I too, thought that it might be an armyworm when I went googling. But the head looks different as do the markings on the body. The newest photo was taken today. The cat is changing, so maybe he will look more identifiable over the next day or two. I hope so. Got me so totally stumped along with quite a few other people.

Thanks for your 2 guesses. You might just be right. I will check out it's backend to see if it looks like a "W". lol

fly_girl - Here's my "shy" little cat showing it's backend. (It took me 5 shots to finally get this. lol) Not sure what you mean by a "W". What do you think?

Well, it doesn't look like a 'W', but it looks like something LOL, and it has a black collar behind its head.
Those are some good shots of it! I can't find anything that looks like it. Maybe someone will ID it on the other forums.

Hey gang, Just saw this thread......hehe
I love to look for 'ese thangs..

http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg321.html

Hummm Fall Armyworm, maybe.. you look, MarkroCOSmia and Beckaroo and Roxie!

:-S



This message was edited Dec 31, 2006 5:40 PM

Here's a photo of the caterpillar this morning. He's definitely changing into something that will hopefully be recognizable.

Possibly armyworm? Not sure.

I kept looking Becky, and I am pretty sure he is a Fall Armyworm.. Did you see the link there alright? What do you think?

Deb

I am in agreement with you and others, Deb. It is looking more and more like an armyworm.

He's in the pond where all the birds are stopping to drink. I hope the birds don't see him and have him for dinner! :-S

I will post this url of the page preceding the Fall Armyworm page.. From it we get a better idea of the similarities of their names, and differences they have, even though they are called armyworms. There are about 3, or so, kinds on this page:
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/#lepidoptera

My opinion...he's brown and ugly and not going to be anything other than a dull 'ole moth. :) Only way to tell unless you want to spend a lot of time looking at pics of ugly brown cats is to wait it out. You've got plenty of time and nothing else to do, so go for it. ;) lol :P

Paige - LOL! Actually, I will be going back to work in 2 more days. :-(

I have certainly been enjoying my winter break and being out in my yard almost every day for hours (mostly working on the bog bed). But I do enjoy looking around the garden to see what I can see.

I agree, it will probably be an dull brown moth when it grows up. (If all the birds drinking at my pond don't find him and end his life abruptly.)

I'm trying to get caught up and from what I'm seeing, you need to go back to work to get a break!

Oh no! Hauling dirt, building garden bed frames, etc. is a luxury for me! Really!

It sure beats changing diapers, shadowing very active children, and sitting next to a child at lunch who manages to get ME all messy while he eats! I'm already looking forward to Spring Break and Summer Break ...... and my Winter Break isn't even over yet. LOL

I hear ya! No matter how hard I work in my beds, I'm relaxing. I'm ready to get back outside but going to try and use my short "winter" time now to get organized inside. That includes organizing these seeds that I had to buy a big plastic tote to hold!

Here's the newest photo of the little mystery cat. He's definitely looking more and more like an armyworm.

Becky, now I'm thinking Variegated Cutworm, because I'm seeing the 'W' at the tail end and the top body segments have a yellow dot. What do you think?