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Samuel Jaffe’s Feature a Magnificient Beauty of New England Caterpillars

With over 120,000 known species across the planet, the beauty and wide variety of caterpillars is magnificent. English photographer Samuel Jaffe has taken his lifelong passion of caterpillars to a new degree, devoting the past several years to exploring, photographing, and educating people about these charming creatures.

In 2008, Jaffe took up the rearing of caterpillars he'd loved as a youngster and recorded his work with amazing photos of the caterpillars of New England. Whether displaying their magnificent coloration or their capacity to mimic their environment, every caterpillar is revealed munching on the plant of its own choice, offset by a neutral black backdrop.

cecropia giant silk moth on buttonbush
https://mymodernmet.com/caterpillar-photography-samuel-jaffe/

"As a photographer, caterpillars fascinate me as subjects due to their incredible defensive adaptations," Jaffe informs My Modern Met. "Many are unmatched impersonators of the leaves and stalks of the host plants. Some imitate other creatures like snakes and spiders which may be threatening to their predators. Others may seem like bird poop, galls, or detritus. Many caterpillars also play eccentric defensive dances, have inflatable horns, bright warning colors, or other openings. Caterpillars are unmatched tricksters, and I love shooting and describing these survival strategies in one photograph."

After much success exhibiting his photographs, he started organizing exhibitions and workshops to educate the public about caterpillars. Too often caterpillars are seen as pests, but because of Jaffe and the utilization of The Caterpillar Lab, people understand how vital they are to the surroundings.

Interestingly, according to Jaffe, among the biggest misconceptions people have is that only butterfly caterpillars are intriguing. Jaffe's work certainly proves not to be the situation. "Butterflies are only a small group that fits within the much bigger, plus much more diverse group, of their moths. Moth caterpillars are often more striking, vibrant, and odd than butterfly caterpillars and there are many more of them out there to research."

left: “red boots” – apatelodes torrifacta on cherry | right: eight-spotted forester on grapevine
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great ash sphinx, red coloration
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left: tobacco hornworm eating tomato plant flower | right: darapsa myron on grapevine
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left: “orange red green” – eumorpha achemon on grapevine | right: final instar speared dagger on black cherry
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“father of monsters” – eumorpha typhon on arizona grape
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left: “three swallowtails” – papilio glaucus, polyxenes, and troilus | right: catocala innubens pupa
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left: big poplar sphinx hanging on poplar leaves | right: little wife underwing on bayberry
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black-etched puss moth caterpillar on willow leaf
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