Rudy Mancke helps a listener identify a caterpillar that is preparing to pupate.
Transcript (edited for clarity):
RUDY MANCKE:
Hi, this is Rudy Mancke from USC for NatureNotes.
Alton was out with his son at James Island Park. And they noticed a caterpillar looking thing with two false eyes on them. And when they started poking at it a little bit, it would rear up its head at the front end of the caterpillar, as if it were sort of a snake getting ready to strike.
It wasn't green in color, but I promise you this one used to be. It was a purplish color, and that told me that this caterpillar was getting ready to pupate. They were going to find a place to go ahead and form a chrysalis. And that's what was going on here, that's why it didn't look like a normal eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar should look. It's getting ready to change.
