@aleglessoverlookednovemberecho submitted: Found this lovely chub chomping on my meadow rue in northwestern vermont. It ate aaaaaalll the leaves, but the meadow rue still bloomed magnificently a short time later. Yay! ID please?

What a long, precious angel! This sweet friend is a Canadian owlet moth caterpillar, which is in the genus Calyptra and boy, you will never guess what these dudes are up to. The genus is collectively referred to as vampire moths for the adults' habit of drinking the blood of mammals. I have even read anecdotal stories of them sipping from humans. The subfamily they belong to is known as the fruit-piercing moths, so likely the ability to drink blood just evolved from the ability to pierce fruit with their proboscis. Extra nutrients! Can't say no to that. The caterpillars, as you found out, feed on meadow rue.

Here's an adult:

Photo by claudette-cormier