Giant Leopard Moth

During a “Supersession” on October 3, 2025, one of the two teams came up with quite a find. Eating away on the underside of a leaf on a young white ash tree, a late-instar Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar was found flourescing with a UV flashlight. While this species is relatively common in rural parts of Ontario, there had been no previous record of this species in the city of Toronto - including the large adults with striking black-and-white spots.

For this caterpillar to get to this stage of development, it had to have been in the area for weeks - right under our noses the entire time. A bit of effort and even more luck pays off sometimes, especially when searching for caterpillars in an urban park.

Here is the iNaturalist observation.