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Wooly Bear Caterpillar

Posted by March 14th, 2005 at 1:00 am

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Woolly Bears

caterpillar
hello,
i found this caterpillar outside my house in L.A., and i was wondering what kind of caterpillar it is and if it’s poisonous. thanks.
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,
Your caterpillar is a Wooly Bear, the larval form of Tiger Moths from the family Arctiidae. Many Wooly Bears are similarly colored. Based on your location, a good bet is the Painted Arachnis, Arachnis picta, a very pretty moth common in Los Angeles. We have photos of the adults on our moth page. The Wooly Bear eats a wide variety of weedy plants including wild radish. It is not poisonous

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