This cool caterpillar will float like a moth, but sting like a bee

• I found about 10 of them in the hibiscus. They stayed for a few days, ate half the leaves, then moved along.
• They morph into brown moths with spots on their wings — camouflage that makes them look like a much bigger owl.

What they're saying: I reached out to Andrei Sourakov, a researcher at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the Florida Museum of Natural History, to learn more about my backyard critters.

• Sourakov said they reproduce with four generations per year in South Florida, compared with just one generation in northern states.
• "Moths are beautiful and interesting, and the Io Moth is a prime example. So, I hope people do not kill them if they find them in their yards," Sourakov said.

Of note: In Greek mythology, Zeus, the god of sky, fell in love with Io, the daughter of the river god Argos. But to protect her from his jealous wife Hera, Zeus turned Io into a cow.

• Hera sent a fly to sting her, forcing her to travel all over the world to try to escape it.