This lil' big guy took me off guard - he's one of those caterpillars that is a bit bigger then most, and the colors & patterns remind me of a snake. Long thin yellow stripes leading from head to stinger, with thicker lines of shiny black in between --- plus he's a wee bit hairy, not in that fuzzy wuzzy way but in that old man has random hairs growing on top his ears kinda way.
The black stingers on the back look like something to hurt little children and I don't doubt that this guy wouldn't hesitate to lay it on someone - his personality was not really shy, he had an aggressive vibe (even when he seemed to be cautious of danger.)
Can anyone ID this white haired beast? What butterfly or moth will he become?
Xoxoxoox
This lil' big guy took me off guard - he's one of those caterpillars that is a bit bigger then most, and the colors & patterns remind me of a snake. Long thin yellow stripes leading from head to stinger, with thicker lines of shiny black in between --- plus he's a wee bit hairy, not in that fuzzy wuzzy way but in that old man has random hairs growing on top his ears kinda way.
The black stingers on the back look like something to hurt little children and I don't doubt that this guy wouldn't hesitate to lay it on someone - his personality was not really shy, he had an aggressive vibe (even when he seemed to be cautious of danger.)
Can anyone ID this white haired beast? What butterfly or moth will he become?
Xoxoxoox
Yellow-necked caterpillar. Boring name. Boringly drab adult. Invasively defoliates great trees like the oak. I can't stand bugs that destroy their hosts, and what do they give back? A little bird and bat food?
ReplyDeleteHey Gratu, my favorite bug man!
ReplyDeleteYa know, it's almost like you can tell which ones are destructive by their subtle movements... as soon as i saw this one I thought it was one of those that just kills it's food source, eats it to the ground type caterpillar.
Maybe the birds and bats reallllllly love it. Maybe they keep those trees in check. . . . . . . oh yeah the humans have been over-doing that for like 100 years straight.
From where? It looks like Datana ministra (Notodontidae), it's called the Yellow-necked Caterpillar.
ReplyDelete