Orange-patched Smoky Moth Pyromorpha dimidiata

Here's a caterpillar with a gruesome culinary habit. Leaf skeletonizer moths have caterpillars that eat the tissue between leaf veins, leaving behind a delicate skeleton of veins—the leaf becomes pure lacework. The orange patches on this smoky-winged species make it visually striking across eastern North America. These moths were literally named for their feeding pattern: caterpillars chew away everything but the framework, leaving a botanical x-ray in their wake. Destructive? Absolutely. Fascinating? Even more so.