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Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Posted by bugman June 14th, 2009 at 9:28 am

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Tussock Moth Caterpillars

scorpion caterpillar!
Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Hello! Outside in our garden I found a caterpillar that looked like it was pretending to be a scorpion.
I have no idea what it is, I am from the UK so dont know much about american bugs.
Any ideas?
Rich
central Illinois

Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Hi Rich,
This is a Tussock Moth Caterpillar in the genus Orgyia, probably the White Marked Tussock Moth, Orgyia leucostigma, which BugGuide describes as: “Caterpillars are recognized by the bright red head and broad black stripe along the back flanked by a yellow stripe each side.  Two red glands on  sixth and seventh abdominal segments, and four tufts of hairs (which may be white, gray or yellowish) on the first four abdominal segments are common to several members of the genus.
CAUTION: Contact with hairs may cause an allergic reaction.
Adult females, which are pale grey, are wingless and therefore flightless. “   We are amused that you described this caterpillar as looking like a scorpion, because you have a species in the UK, Stauropus fagi, the Lobster Moth Caterpillar, which really, really looks like a scorpion.  We posted a photo of the Lobster Moth Caterpillar in September 2005 from England and more in August 2007 from Japan.

Related Posts

  1. Banded Tussock Moth Caterpillar (October 4, 2006)
  2. Spotted Tussock Moth Caterpillar (July 30, 2004)
  3. Tussock Moth Caterpillar (March 30, 2006)
  4. Western Tussock Moth Caterpillar (March 27, 2006)
  5. Tussock Moth Caterpillar (August 11, 2006)

Comments 2

  1. crux101 wrote:

    Hi…we just found one of these in the woods of SW Pennsylvania and looked here to see if there was any info. Ours has blacker antenea on a bright red head and fine black hairs along the back. A friend cautioned against touching it but there was really no problem about it looking the least bit “pet-able”. I’ll see if we can get a picture and post it here. Thanks for identifying it!!

    Posted 16 Jun 2009 at 8:45 pm
  2. Seto Family wrote:

    Thanks for the ID!
    We just found one of these in an older suburban subdivision with lots of mature oak, maple and chestnut trees in Toronto Ontario.

    Posted 30 Sep 2009 at 3:30 pm

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