Mega catapillar

[cre8ivbonsai]

So walking home, noticed this big boy, was bigger than my index finger! Biggest I've seen! And the colours ... Irredecent! ... well the photo doesn't do them justice! Glad this guy wasn't in my backyard cos he'd down a shohin pretty damn quick ... Anyway enjoy the wonders of nature ...

[EdwardH]

Now that is one good looking grub...that's assuming that grubs can be good looking. It's certainly very colourful.

[bodhidharma]

I like these guys and this one is mega. Have you seen a Cup moth, they are the guys that attack Euc;s now they are UGLY.

[daiviet_nguyen]

I hope they are high in protein Not that I am eating them

[Jason]

Very cool!

[shibui]

Nice find. Looks like larva of Emperor Gum Moth. They naturally feed on eucs but have also developed a taste for Peppercorn, Silver birch and Liquidamber. i have not seen one of these since I was a kid (loooong time ago) so nice to hear there are still some about.

[cre8ivbonsai]

Yep, this one was making it's up a small red-barked euc, next to a main rd in commercial/industrial Mulgrave. With all the new leaves sprouting it'd have had a feast

[shibui]

Actually it looks close to fully developed so probably not looking for more food. These guys start off back but change colour every time they shed skin while growing - 5 different stages. The green/blue body with yellow stripes and red and blue nodes is the final stage so maybe this one was looking for a suitable spot to spin a cocoon and pupate.