We just received a video from a reader with the question “What is this?” The videos show a caterpillar wiggling in some dirt and grass.
The caterpillar is segmented, with about 13 segments (its hard to count an exact number) and appears to be brown. We say appears to be, because it is unclear if the caterpillar is actually brown or if it is just muddy and looks brown. While some caterpillars have very noteworthy traits, this one doesn’t appear to have any horns, spikes, or crazy coloring. Here is a screenshot of the caterpillar from the video:
The lack of standout features and the fact that the creature blends in with the dirt makes it difficult to determine what kind of caterpillar this is. We think this could be a cutworm based on the appearance, but cutworms are often nocturnal and this video was taken during daytime. We don’t have any other clues to go off of, like where the video is taken, what the weather conditions are, and if the caterpillar was seen next to any particular plants. These might all assist in figuring out what this specimen is.
In summary, a reader sent us a video of a brown “worm” crawling on the ground. We are confident that this is not a worm, but a caterpillar. However, we are unsure what kind of caterpillar this is.
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