Caterpillar Hunter

Walking along 8th Avenue last night, across from the Port Authority, tourists and locals alike were flinching from a large insect on the sidewalk. Normally, they would be correct, and they would be freaked out by a giant cockroach, the kind that are as big as mice and fly into our windows on the hottest summer days.

However, this time, it was not a cockroach, but a gorgeous Caterpillar Hunter beetle, sporting an iridescent green body with bright orange trim. After we put it back on the sidewalk, we had to turn away quickly lest we witness the person who would soon and inevitably step on it.


Unfortunately my photo didn't come out that great, so here is another one from the Arthropod Museum's website.