Has anyone else noticed a spike in caterpillar numbers around the region?
Don Pitcairn, who runs landscaping firm Green Team Gardening, certainly has, and a giant one at that.
Pitcairn spotted the huge caterpillar on No. 1 Road near Steveston Highway last week while his firm was carrying out one of its contracts nearby.
He believes the large insect to be that of a so-called tarantula moth, otherwise known as the polyphemus moth, one of the largest insects in B.C.
Pitcairn said he has never come across a caterpillar that big in all his time out landscaping.
One such moth spotted in Victoria in July was about the size of its finder’s hand.
They’re not often seen out in the daylight and frequent the night more, but can be found fluttering around people’s porch lights.
