Crawlies with Cri – Funerary Dagger

macro photo looking at a caterpillar on a big leaf maple leaf. the pillar is in profile. they are tan with dark brown and black spots on their side. their head is orange/brown. they have large yellow raised circles on their back. it's all topped off with long paddle-shaped black hairs - a pair on each yellow circle and two pairs at the front circle.
The extraordinarily good looking and excellently named Funerary Dagger caterpillar (Acronicta funeralis). Photo by Christy Solo

By Christy Solo – ONPA 1st Place Award Winner for Best Local Column

This week’s crawly is yet more proof that Nature never runs out of awesome! In fact, this crawly might be the coolest looking caterpillar ever – and it 100% has the best common name in the history of common names.

Meet the Funerary Dagger (Acronicta funeralis)! We’ll call them daggers for short.

Fun fact: If you want to meet a…

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