Last week when I was exploring Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, I spotted this very strange looking caterpillar in one of the trees. It was quite small and was in motion, so getting a photo was somewhat of a challenge. As I was doing research, I was a little shocked to discover that this is actual the larval stage of a Dogwood Sawfly (Macremphytus tarsatus), a wasp-like insect. The larvae go through a number of different phases of development and this looks to middle-instar stage.
No matter how many times I return to a location, there always seems to be something new and different to see, as long as I take the time to look slowly and carefully.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Very nice composition.
Beautiful photo. Yes, your point about taking time to look carefully at details is poignant in all of life perhaps. Thank you Mike always a pleasure to see your photo and read it story. Blessings.
Nice Mike! Very interesting looking😊
This photo is so cool! Gem and I never heard of a Dogwood Sawfly. I wanted to see the insect that this grows to become. We used Google to find something and guess what? There are lots of different kinds of Sawflies and each only eats one kind of plant. Like this one only eats Dogwood Trees. Gem has Dogwood Trees but I don’t think that Sawfly larva are eating the leaves. Thank you, Mr. Mike!
Thanks, Benjamin. It’s fun to find things that I have never hear of and then try to figure out what they are. I too looked at photos of sawflies, but did not know that each one eats only one plant. Thanks, Benjamin, for sharing your new knowledge.
I had to google Dogwood Sawfly in order to see what an adult looks like and I would never believe that this pudgy and pale little fellow is going to grow up to be that insect.
I too was shocked, but from what I can see, that is the case for a whole bunch of different types of sawflies. https://wimastergardener.org/article/sawflies/
Nature is just endlessly fascinating.
Great work and nice find, Mike! Sawfly larvae can be quite odd, interesting and fascinating.
Thanks, Pete. I suspected that you might have had some experience with sawflies.
Good eye, Mike. Sawfly larva are voracious – they can skeletonize a plant in no time! Obviously, not a bug I like to see in my garden.
Yikes. I remember reading that was the way they worked, i.e. skeletonizing the leaves. It looks like this one is firmly in the category of “pest.”
I’ve found these a few times. Once you know one of them they are easier to recognize.
The first time is always the hardest. Now I will probably see them everywhere. 🙂
Seriously a time to slow down and escape the mental acrobatics of this era.You certainly help my mental health! We took my grandson to the east fork of the Little Miami river yesterday. I saw a similar caterpillar on the white truck parked next to us. I wonder if he has a dogwood tree in his yard?
There are so many unusual looking caterpillars that it is almost impossible to identify them accurately, with the exception of well-known ones like that of the Monarch butterfly.