Caterpillar?
Location: Central Florida
March 5, 2011 8:01 pm
Hi!
Just a few weeks ago we started getting these little worm-like bugs all over our house/trees. Now normally it’d be fine, we’re not freaked out by bugs or anything but they are EVERYWHERE. We can sweep them off the porch/cars and the next morning there’s just as many if not more. I tried looking them up but can’t find any that actually look like them, I’m not sure if they’re just babies, or what. Friends were talking about killing them/hosing them down/etc but I don’t want to harm them if they’re useful/pretty.
Signature: Anna Moore

Oak Leafroller

Hi Anna,
Another reader just supplied us to a link entitled “Caterpillars Invade Tampa Bay” that provides information on the Oak Leafroller and other similar Caterpillars that are currently being reported in great numbers in Florida.

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caterpillar
Location: Black Canyon City, AZ
March 9, 2011 7:24 pm
My sons & I have found this caterpillar (we have named him Cowboy) but we are having a hard time identifying it. we offered him celery stalks w/ the leaves, red cabbage & a cholla cactus (spines removed) but he wants none of it. I noticed he sleeps all day & comes to life @ night. we have had him since yesterday afternoon & we don’t want him to starve to death & if we can not figure out what he likes to eat we will need to release him. we have him in a bug box on a self in the living-room (not in direct sun light). we enjoy watching the life cycle of caterpillars & have enjoyed inchworms that turned in to geometrid moths in the past.
Thank you
Signature: Jenni

Unknown Caterpillar

Hi Jenni,
We have been trying to provide an identification for you in vain.  The closest we can come is that your caterpillar shares many similar characteristics with the Asp or Puss Caterpillar, the larva of the Southern Flannel Moth, Megalopyge opercularis, which you can see on BugGuide.  The Asp is a stinging caterpillar and it should be handled with care.  Though there are similarities, we do not believe that is the correct identification.  Perhaps one of our readers will write in with a correct identification.  When caterpillars are collected, they are generally found feeding upon plants and those are the plants that should be offered for food.

Hi Daniel
Thank you so much! You guys are great! I found him curled up under a Cholla cactus it was still daylight but he looked dead. I have tried a few leaves from almost every thing in my yard, he does not like any of it. I am going to let him go where I found him. I can say he had the nicest hairdo I have ever seen on a caterpillar! I will keep an eye out & see if some1 on your forum knows what cowboy is . I will also keep an eye out to see if I see cowboy in our yard on a plant eating it (so if we ever find another cowboy we will know what he eats).
Thanks for every thing!!
Jenni

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Infestation of caterpillars

Unknown Caterpillars

Infestation of caterpillars
Location: hawaii, big island
February 27, 2011 6:52 pm
Help…i live in hawaii, and in the 7 years i have been there i have never seen anything like these caterpillars…there seems to be a fe different types, none of which i can identify, but they are everywhere, even inside! what do i do, what are they
Signature: ryan Williamson

Unknown Caterpillars

Dear Ryan,
Alas, your photos are quite blurry, but we believe there is a resemblance between your caterpillars and the members of the subfamily Erebinae, which includes the Underwings.  You can see some of these North American species of Moths on BugGuide.  Many endemic species on Hawaii are being displaced by opportunistic invasive exotic species, and it is entirely possible that these caterpillars have been introduced.  Often populations of insects peak during certain years, and it is also possible that this is a native species that has suddenly experienced a population explosion due to ideal conditions.  Knowing the plant that they are feeding upon may help with the identification.

Unknown Caterpillar Outbreak

thanks for your response…i can tell you they are eating (almost exclusivly) what we call “Christmas berry” trees, or “brazilian Pepper”, or “Florida holly”….i heard the trees called all of these names…its a sappy tree, with red pepper corn berries, white blossoms, and an invasive tree itself. There are hundreds of acres of this tree where i live….They(caterpillars) do not like oleander, but are eating orchids as well….hope this helps to identify them better…there seems to be a few different types of caterpillars, but they may be different aged or something….any ideas what to do to get rid of them?

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