16 Very Cool Caterpillar Photographs

Getting down into the world of macro can introduce a photographer to a whole other world of interesting subjects. Following on from our macro tips on photographing insects, we though we would showcase exactly what people can do when they decide to get close-up. This time with caterpillars which are a fascinating and colorful subject that photographers seem to be able to turn into incredible photographs.

Chenille de la Buveuse : Euthrix potatoria — Photo by Didier

Zerynthia rumina (catterpillar/lagarta) — Photo by João Coelho

Zygaena filipendulae - Zygène de la filipendule — Photo by Didier

black striped yellow catterpillar — Photo by Felix Francis

Catapillars - Mullein Moths — Photo by Darren Shilson

Hubbard's Small Silkmoth Catapillar-Sphingicampa hubbardi — Photo by Clinton & Charles Robertson

<---------caterpillar side macro shot — Photo by Dreemreeper

Big Hairy Caterpillar — Photo by Emilia Murray

Pale Tussock caterpillar — Photo by Darius Baužys

eastern tent caterpillar — Photo by woodleywonderworks

Caterpillar ## — Photo by Gerard Yuvallos

About Author

Rob is the founder of Light Stalking and has been a full time photography educator for over 15 years. His love for photography started as a child with a Kodak Instamatic and pushed him into building Light Stalking and sharing literally hundreds of tutorials and articles on photography, and you can get to know him better here, connect with him on LinkedIn or follow him on Instagram.

9 Comments

Oeh, nice! I really like the shot of Joseph Reicherts, it is very abstract. But I like the article, good macro inspiration.

Why is my comment not getting displayed? I also tried to enter a link to a caterpillar picture that I clicked.

very nice – the photos and the caterpillars – aren’t they just amazing!
Had a nice one lately: https://dreamfalcon.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/lime-hawk-moth-mimas-tiliae/

I’ll be itching all day after seeing this lot.

Caterpillars are amazing subjects of photography, with their colours and hairy appearance. Though it’s not an insect, I included a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar photo among the insects portraits here

These are awesome. Great choices! We have a few milkweed plants specifically to watch the cycle from caterpillar to butterfly. Very cool to see them grow and change.