Description
The final instar caterpillar of the Great Peacock Moth (Saturnia pyri) is one of Europe’s most visually remarkable insect larvae — the dark green-black body surface studded with approximately 90 turquoise-coloured tubercles, each bearing a rosette of setae (sensory hairs). At macro scale, this arrangement creates a visual texture of considerable complexity and the unusual colour combination — turquoise on near-black — creates an insect portrait of striking visual distinctiveness. This photograph, made at 4:1 reproduction in natural forest-floor light supplemented by a single remotely triggered macro flash, captures a section of the caterpillar body surface in sufficient detail to resolve individual setae and the surface texture of the tubercle structures.
