What kind of caterpiller am I looking at here?
Hey Bugman,
I found this little fellow munching away on a Cottonwood leaf in my front yard in Indiana. I picked him up because he was very pretty… What is he? What will he be? How can I take care of him? Thanks,
Mo

Hi Mo,
This is a Spiny Oak Slug Caterpillar, Euclea delphinii. Despite its common name, according to BugGuide the: “larvae feed on leaves of apple, basswood, cherry, chestnut, maple, oak, redbud, sycamore, willow, and other broad-leaved woody plants”. Following our BugGuide link will show you photos of the adult as well as other color variations of the caterpillar. Caterpillars don’t require much more care than a constant supply of leaves from the food plant. You should exercise caution as this is a stinging caterpillar and you can read more about it on the Auburn University website.

Spiny Oak Slug Caterpillar
First of all I would like to say how much I enjoy your site. I’ve been interested in entomology for about 40 years, much to my Mom’s dismay during those early years. LOL I do a lot of nature photography and spend lots of time taking pictures of insects and spiders. I have been trying to ID a caterpillar that I have narrowed down to the Hesitant Dagger Moth. I used the Caterpillars of Eastern Forests to get this ID, but they also mentioned that there are several Dagger Moths that have similar looking caterpillars. At any rate, I just ordered Caterpillars of Eastern North America by Wagner. I’ve been wanting a good book to ID caterpillars anyways. If I still don’t get a positive ID from that, I just may be sending you a picture of this caterpillar. In looking through all the caterpillars you have, I thought maybe I could send you a photo from time to time of things you don’t have pictures of. The photo I’m sending you today is the Spiny Oak Slug Caterpillar. Definitely one of the coolest caterpillars I’ve found, and be careful if you find one of these they do have stinging spines. Feel free to use this photo on your site. I belong to several photography groups on the internet and when someone posts a picture of an insect or spider, they usually come to me to help them find out what it is. Some of them even call me the bug lady. LOL Wonderful site you have here, keep up the good work!
Judy Whitton aka the “bug lady”

Hi Judy,
Thank you so much for filling a hole in our archives with your photo of the Spiny Oak Slug Caterpillar, Euclea delphinii. We are much obliged. We also eagerly await any other deficiencies you choose to fill. Thanks again and have a wonderful day. Though you did not provide us with a location, we are guessing you are in Florida or some other southern state.

Hi Daniel, you are very welcome. I wish I could say I’m from Florida or one of the other southern states, but I’m from Northeast Indiana in Fort Wayne. We have a wonderful nature preserve here in town called Lindenwood Nature Preserve, 110 acres, that I do most of my bug shooting at. That is where I took that picture. I also go to a few state parks and nature preserves close by. I’ve also been fortunate to find the Saddleback Caterpillar and the Skiff Moth Caterpillar, but I noticed you already had plenty of those. I’m keeping my eye open for some of the other slug caterpillars that are in my area.
Judy Whitton, the Bug Lady

Bug of interest
Found your web site while looking to identify the attached “bug”. My wife and I were on vacation Sept. 15th in the Blue Ridge Parkway and found this little fellow on the side of the car while parked at a picnic area located at about 3600 feet elevation. We photographed him/her, put him on a near by berry tree and moved on up the parkway. At another stop we found a second one stuck to the side of the car. We were traveling through an area of the parkway on which the trees hang directly over the roadway. Watched it for a while and after deciding that it wasn’t going to move on its own, we moved it to safer location and we moved on. Didn’t see anymore of these fellows at the lower elevations. Having looked over your web site, I thought you might like a copy of the “bug”. Thanks for being out there… our young people need to stay in touch with nature more.
Terry Willis

Hi Terry,
This is a Monkey Slug Caterpillar, and you are lucky you did not get stung as they have stinging spines. We often get reports that people encounter them when they drop onto their cars.

catipillar
I found this caterpillar on my redbud tree august 18, 2006 in Callaway county, Missouri while filling my hummingbird feeders. I didn’t think much about it except that I had never seen one like it before. I forgot all about it and the next day when I reached for one of my feeders the back of my hand started stinging. I looked to see what I came into contact with and there was that same caterpillar. I took some pictures of it and put it back in the tree.(Away from my feeders). From what I could find, I think it might be a Stinging Rose Caterpillar. Am I correct? All the other pictures I have seen has an orange body. By the way your website is GREAT!………
Gale Williams

Hi Gale,
You are correct. This is a Stinging Rose Caterpillar, Parasa indetermina. Bugguide lists redbud as a host plant as well as apple, cottonwood, dogwood, hickory, oak, sycamore and the namesake rose. There is some degree of color variation in the caterpillar. Some lack orange entirely, some being mostly orange, and some somewhere in-between like yours.

Monkey Slug Caterpillar?
Greetings Lisa Anne and Daniel,
I just this evening found your website – it’s fantastic and I love it! A couple of years ago, we found a part of one of these caterpillars on my husband’s car windshield and thought we had entered the Twilight Zone! We live in New Hampshire (the Mount Washington Valley) and recently found several in a small maple tree. From research I have been able to do, I think they are of the family Limacodidae and a relative of Phobetron hipparchia – maybe Phobetron pithecium? Although I handled them before I knew anything about them (not always a wise move and fortunately I suffered no ill effects), you can see in the second picture that they have stinging spines. They certainly are beautiful! long — and in this particular photo, she is very near to being lifesize. Do you
know who she is exactly? Thanks for enjoying them with me.
Judi Paul

Hi Judi,
Due to time constraints, we are editing your letter and only posting the image of the Monkey Slug Caterpillar, a stunning image.

Can you tell me what this is??
Hi there,
Found this caterpillar on our orange tree today. Do you know it? It certainly can sting!! We live in Queensland, Australia.
Many thanks,
Borris

Hi Borris,
We quickly located your Stinging Slug Caterpillar online. Two different scientific names are given: Calcarifera ordinata (Butler, 1886) and Doratiphora colligans. Orange was not listed as a host plant but mimosa, dogwood and rose is.