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.
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Posted 23 September 2006
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Bug ID
My closeup makes it look like it has hair, looking directly at it though it looks like a leaf. It dropped on our windshield while parked under some trees. It has a sticky sucking bottom. We are in Ohio and we drove 15 miles home while it stuck to the windshield. Thanks for any input, I can’t find anything on the internet.
This is a stinging Monkey Slug Caterpillar, and your photo of it is awesome.
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Posted 21 August 2006
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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.
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Posted 19 August 2006
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BUG ID
Yes this one stings. Is it a saddleback? doesn’t look like the on on your site. Fairfax VA
Sherley Channing
Hi Sherley,
We believe we have about 10 images of Saddleback Caterpillars on our site and they look nearly identical to this specimen.
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Posted 18 August 2006
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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.
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Posted 15 August 2006
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Hi,
I found your web page while trying to identify a hummingbird clearwing moth that I took a picture of yesterday and decided you might can help me identify the attached picture. This bug was crawling on our car and we let it crawl onto the graph paper in order to take its picture. Do you know what this creature is? Thanks a lot for you help.
Julie and Jim
Hi Julie and Jim,
What an artful photograph of a Monkey Slug Caterpillar or Hag Moth Larva, Phobetron pithecium. This is a stinging caterpillar.
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Posted 21 April 2006
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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.
Stinging Caterpillar.
Hi Bugman,
whilst walking past a eucalyptus tree whilst on holiday in Queensland, Australia, my ear and side of head just brushed a leaf and I received a stinging sensation. On returning to investigate I found what I believe to be the culprit and have attached a photo. Be interested if this is a common bug.
Regards,
Peter.
Hi Peter,
Your caterpillar bears an uncanny resemblance to a North American species known as the Saddleback Caterpillar, Sibine stimulea, except for the coloration. We suspect it is a close relative, one of the Slug Caterpillars in the family Limacodidae, many of which have stinging spines.
Dear WTB
The Stinging Slug Caterpillar is a Mottled Cup Moth, Doratifera vulnerans, found throughout Australia. They eat the foliage of Eucalypts, Melaleuca and sometimes exotics. The Moth is brown and hairy.
Regards,
Grev
Caterpillar in Madagaskar
Hallo Bugman,
I read, that you are interested in the animals of Madagaskar. Here ist a picture of a nice caterpillar.
Christian
Hi again Christian,
We suspect this caterpillar will sting if you come into contact with those spines.
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Posted 26 February 2006
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Found this bug in our vegetable garden. The pain from the sting from this critter didn’t last very long. I sent the photo to a good friend of mine in Canada and he emailed your web site to me. Checked out your site and didn’t see it listed. It’s very beautiful I think and I though you may be interested. We live in central Virginia. I looks somewhat like the Saddleback’s I’ve seen on your web site. Do you know what it is?
Bert and Cheryl
Hi Bert and Cheryl,
This is a Saddleback Caterpillar and they do sting.
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Posted 21 September 2005
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slug that looks like a leaf
During a camping trip last Saturday one of the kids found an unusual creature. These pictures are of a slug type creature that was found in a wooded area near a lake about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh PA. From the side it looks like curled horns. From the top it appears to look like a brown leaf. From the bottom you can see a orange caterpillar type body. It could move the leaf looking appendages. Please help us identify this creature.
Thanks
Rick
Hi Rick,
The Hag Moth Caterpillar is also known as a Monkey Slug.
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Posted 20 September 2005
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Another Stinging Rose Caterpillar
This beauty was seen at Mammoth Cave National Park in KY this past weekend. My 12 year old son, a true entomologist, found it and stumped the rangers when he asked them to help identify it. We found your website when we got home and then followed the link from the other picture of the same caterpillar. Very neat little critter. We had him on the lid of a clear plastic container for a while and could watch the way his legs moved, which is unlike any other caterpillar we had ever seen! More like a slug than a caterpillar! Thank you for helping us to identify him. We have bookmarked your site for future use!
Cindy (mom) and Eddie (son)
Dry Ridge KY
Hi Cindy and Eddie,
We are thrilled you were able to identify this lovely specimen of the Stinging Rose Caterpillar, Parasa indetermina, because of our site.
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Posted 13 September 2005
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