Mariton: Another Hickory Horned Devil

by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager

A month ago, there was a Blog Post about the Hickory Horned Devil that Jarrod Shull found at Binky Lee.  Since I had never seen one, I was pretty impressed by its appearance. 

Today I found one crossing the driveway by the Black Walnut tree at Mariton’s entrance.  This caterpillar is huge!  I should have known from the photo with Jarrod’s hand for reference (Jarrod has big hands!), but until I saw one in person I couldn’t appreciate its size. The caterpillar that I found was a good 5 inches long and over a 1/2 inch in diameter.  I think most birds would think twice before tackling this creature, but it would feed them for a long time.