A few days ago we received a question from a reader who sent us a picture of what appears to be a red caterpillar with eyes. (Just a few days ago, we answered a question about a yellow worm with eyes, and the “worm” in question was in fact a caterpillar, so evidently people are seeing lots of caterpillars with eyes recently.) Along with the picture, the reader asked one question (slightly edited for clarity): “What kind of animal is in the photo?” Presumably, he is wondering what the red caterpillar with eyes is, so we will limit ourselves to the matter of identification.

A reader recently sent us an excellent photograph of what appears to be a Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar. The reader was only wondering what kind of “worm” she found, so we’ve already answered her: she didn’t find a worm, but rather a caterpillar, and we are pretty sure this caterpillar is a Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar. However, we can’t just assert this without giving any explanation, so we’ll quickly supply one and then come to a speedy conclusion.

We received a question from a reader about a very strange-looking creature she found on her driveway. Although we aren’t completely certain, it looks like a caterpillar; in any event, it looks more like a caterpillar than any other creature, and besides that, we’re pretty sure it’s a caterpillar anyway, to be as convoluted about our relative certainty as possible. The caterpillar is brown and green – more precisely, it is a mix of brown and green, which almost makes the caterpillar look like it is covered in moss. The caterpillar also has two large “eyes” (in fact, they are eyespots, which are faux eyes), and near these “eyes” is a yellow line or stripe that appears to wrap around the creature. The reader was quite alarmed by her find, writing to us “WHAT IS THIS?!?!,” and also urgently asking “Can someone HELP”? (Emphasis not added.) The reader also thought she found a caterpillar, but then became uncertain when she examined what she had found up close. What is this brown, green caterpillar she found (if indeed it is caterpillar)?