Hickory Horned Devil

Measuring about 6 inches long (yikes!) and about as fat as a hot dog (double yikes!), Hickory Horned Devils vary in color depending on their age – some are bright green and others are orange. Their size isn’t the only thing that makes them scary looking – they’re also ringed with prickly black spikes along the length of their body. On their heads are even more spikes – five pairs that can measure more than an inch long. Taken all together, it’s a frightening look for sure.

But hold on, aside from their crazy spikes and their giant size (they are North America’s biggest caterpillar), there’s more to say about these leaf-eating beasties. Before they grow the size of miniature mammoths, they have to survive, and young Hickory Horned Devils do this by mimicking something that no bird would eat – bird poop. That’s right, when the youngest Hickory Horned Devils sense danger, they curl up into a J-shape and just lay there looking like a splatter of bird poo. Effective and disgusting, wouldn’t you say?

As if looking like bird droppings in one stage and a spike-covered monster isn’t enough, Hickory Horned Devils have one more trick up their sleeve. Whenever they’re under direct threat of a predator, this monster caterpillar will rear up on its hind legs and make a rapid clicking sound. The noise is effective, too, since people can easily confuse it with a rattlesnake rattle!

As we mentioned earlier, these amazing caterpillars turn into the Regal Moth, a large brown, yellow and orange moth. To make the change to moth, the devils drop from their favorite tree toward the end of summer, burrow into the ground and emerge then next summer as moths.

Have you ever seen a Hickory Horned Devil and dared to pick it up? Remember, they may look creepy, but they’ve got nothing to harm you with!