Pittsburgh Steelers caterpillar—a second year

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Pittsburgh Steelers caterpillar—a second year

September 5, 2013 by Mike Powell

This past weekend I came across a type of caterpillar that I first encountered last fall. Its black, yellow, and white markings once again made me think of the Pittsburgh Steelers National Footbal League team that wears those same colors.

The sports pages of the newspaper currently are saturated with articles on football, so it’s only natural that I think in those terms (and I apologize to the rest of the world for any confusion caused by the fact that we Americans use the word “football” to refer to a game that doesn’t use feet much at all and use “soccer” to refer to the other “football” game).

I enjoy referring to this caterpillar as the Steelers caterpillar, though, of course, it has a “real” name, which I think is a Smartweed caterpillar (Acronicta oblinita). Some US states have state insects, so I wonder if the Steelers would welcome a fuzzy new mascot. This could be the start of a trend and a marketing opportunity—there are more than enough caterpillar types around for each team to adopt its own.

Posted in Humor, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Sports | Tagged Acronicta oblinita, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, caterpillar, Huntley Meadows Park, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Smartweed caterpillar, Tamron 180mm macro lens | 10 Comments

10 Responses

on September 5, 2013 at 5:24 am | Reply Brigid Jackson

stunning 🙂
- on September 5, 2013 at 5:26 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. This caterpillar did me the favor of positioning itself in a location where I could frame it pretty well in my viewfinder with my macro lens.
  - on September 5, 2013 at 5:27 am Brigid Jackson
    
    the caterpillar was posing 🙂
on September 5, 2013 at 5:55 am | Reply uthamz

Photogenic caterpillar ! 🙂 !
Nice depth of field also.

utham
- on September 5, 2013 at 6:02 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I am pretty sure that I used my tripod for this shot, which let me control the depth of field a bit better. I like the way in which the caterpillar almost seems to glow.
on September 5, 2013 at 6:36 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

I love the soft lighting in that shot. I wonder if his spiny hairs are toxic.
- on September 5, 2013 at 7:32 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  My usual rule of thumb is not to get close enough to tell. The day was pretty sunny, but I was happy that the caterpillar was in an area with open shade.
on September 5, 2013 at 1:00 pm | Reply Lyle Krahn

A team mascot if I ever saw one.
on September 5, 2013 at 11:55 pm | Reply krikitarts

Caterpillars as mascots–what a wonderful idea! I hope it catches on and that you get appropriate credit for it!
on September 7, 2013 at 9:34 pm | Reply Fabio Yellow Caterpillar | Photomiser

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