What type if catepillars
October 5, 2009
Found eating Oleander near Hilton Head South Carolina
Walt Jankowski
Hilton Head SC
Oleander Caterpillar and Milkweed Assassin Bug
Hi Walt,
The caterpillar in your photo is known as the Oleander Caterpillar, and it is the larva of the Polka Dot Wasp Moth, Syntomeida epilais. Below the caterpillar is an immature Milkweed Assassin Bug, a predator that often feeds on caterpillars. We are uncertain if it will prey upon the Oleander Caterpillar. The caterpillar stores toxins from the oleander in its body which renders it unpalatable to many predators.
Curious about this caterpillar
August 9, 2009
I’ve been trying to find out the name of this caterpillar but have yet to find anything even close to matching the pink of blue coloration. It was very small, 3-4 cm and very slender if that is of any help. Any information would be appreciated, thanks!
Kevin Toeneboehn
a dry forest in Puerto Rico
Faithful Beauty Caterpillar
Hi Kevin,
The moth of the Faithful Beauty, Composia fidelissima, is just as lovely as the caterpillar. You can find images of the entire life cycle on Bugguide. BugGuide indicates that Uncle Sam Moth is another name for the adult.
Wow it really is beautiful! I never would have guessed the adult would have a similar coloration. Thank you so much!
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Posted 09 August 2009
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Floridian Black Caterpillar.
Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Hello Mr.Bugman, let me start by saying how very much I appreciate your work. I have a very limited knowledge of bugs, but this site has taught me much. I used to have a serious, very serious phobia of all bugs. But you have taught me to turn my fear into curiosity, and for that, I thank you.
I found this little guy out side my house, on the porch. We live in Northern Florida, in Milton, USA. This picture was taken in December, and the weather was about 20 degrees, and it had just rained. I was worried about this caterpillar, but because I feared I might harm him, I did not touch him. I checked and did not see this type of caterpillar on your site, so I do not know what species he is. Thank you for your time, it is very appreciated!
Much Love, Nick from Florida.
Nick L.
Milton, Florida, USA
Woolly Bear
Hi Nick,
Your caterpillar is a Woolly Bear, the caterpillar of a Tiger Moth. We can’t be more specific than the subfamily Arctiidae.
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Posted 13 December 2008
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what is this caterpillar
Bugman,
Found about 7 of these cuties on a plant out back , in Beaverton ,OR. Looked through the internet with no luck. thought you would be a great place to look. thank you for you attn:
Helen Ferguson
Hi Helen,
Your caterpillars are Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars, Tyria jacobaeae, a species, that according to BugGuide, was “Introduced from Europe as a control for introduced weedy Ragwort, the host plant for its caterpillars, which is toxic to livestock.” The Cinnabar Moth is now well established in Oregon and Washington.
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Posted 29 July 2008
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Isabella Tiger Moth eggs, etc
Hello Bugman.
I just found your egg page and I absolutely love it! I thought you might like these photos of Isabella Tiger Moth laying eggs and the resulting larve, otherwise known as Wooly Bear Caterpillar. She laid the eggs on my door jam, and I am rearing them, at least until fall. They overwinter as caterpillars so I won’t try to keep them all winter. They are eating nettles.
Betsy
Hi Betsy,
We hope you will continue to provide us with Isabella Tiger Moth, Pyrrharctia isabella, metamorphosis images as the caterpillars grow and pupate.
identify caterpillar
My neighbor thinks I know it all, I can’t find this “cat” in any of my books and I have tried the web to no avail. Please help, she keeps calling me (I really don’t mind). But, anyway it seems she has a lot of them and if they will become beautiful butterflies she will not kill them. It is about 3” long and ferocious in its appetite. We live in Port Orange, central fl. Thank you,
Louise
Hi Louise,
This is an Echo Moth Caterpillar, Seirarctia echo, one of the Tiger Moths. BugGuide only has images of the caterpillars. Wild Florida Photo has images of the pretty brown and white striped moth.
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Posted 17 July 2008
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Help to ID Caterpillar
We’ve looked all through all 13 pages of caterpillars on your awesome site, but could not find this one. We are currently camping at Oscar Scherer State Park near Sarasota , Fl and have seen several off these, mostly on the roads. They’re about 2 inches long. Thanks,
John & Joan Willlis
Hi John and Joan,
We know our archives are a tangled mess, but if you visit Caterpillars 11 from September 2007, you will find a photo of an Echo Moth Caterpillar, Seirarctia echo. It is backlit, so it looks different from your photo which is front lit. You can find more on the Echo Moth on BugGuide. All of the submissions to BugGuide are from Florida, but the moth can also be found in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
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Posted 26 April 2008
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Choosing the Bug of the Month each month is an enjoyable ritual, and generally we select a recent letter for the honor. Sadly, we have not received a recent letter that is appropriate since we like to select a critter that our readership is likely to encounter while the letter is posted. We have dug through the archives for a nice image of the Polka Dot Wasp Moth, Syntomeida epilais, a wasp mimic moth that readers from Florida and other southern states often write to us about. The Polka Dot Wasp Moth is not a seasonal sighting, and according to BugGuide, it can be found year round.
The Polka Dot Wasp Moth is also known as the Oleander Moth because one of the favorite larval foods is the deadly oleander. The caterpillars are known as Oleander Caterpillars and readers frequently write about the large numbers of orange caterpillars with black hairs that are defoliating their oleander plants.
Hope you can help identify this critter. Photo taken in Everglades National Park. Everybody around here is stumped. Thanks!
Eric
Hi Eric,
This is an Echo Moth Caterpillar, Seirarctia echo. We found a match on BugGuide, also from Florida. The adult moth is white with pale tan wing veins and striped legs. Also according to BugGuide, there are only sightings from 8 counties in Florida.
Daniel:
Thank you so much! When I said everybody around here is stumped, I meant just that. My fiance was a temporary park ranger this past summer so she emailed the photo to some park personnel and they are some hard people to stump! So thanks again!
Eric
www.gladesphotos.com
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Posted 15 September 2007
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they are everywhere!
Hi! We just moved into this house and we have these orange catepillars, with black tufts of hair crawling everywhere on our house. We have searched and cannot figure out what type they are, what they eat, etc… Their cocoons are black and thin because you can see straight through them. We believe that they turn into a black moth with white spots, with an orange butt. Are these poisonous? Please what can you tell us about them. They already had one set of caterpillars that cocooned and now we have a second set. Thank you,
Shereen
Hi Shereen,
This is an Oleander Caterpillar, Syntomeida epilais, which, as you know, matures into the Polka Dot Wasp Moth. They are probably feeding on your oleander plants, a flowering shrub that might be more likely to harm your children than these caterpillars are. Oleander contains Neriin, Oleondroside and Oleandrin and ingestion of leaves or stems of oleander can be deadly. Reportedly, even a single leaf might cause death. While oleander is a deadly poison for mammals, the Oleander Caterpillars are not affected. Quite possibly they store the poisons in their bodies and this might protect them. We do not recommend eating the caterpillars nor the adult moths.
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Posted 19 August 2007
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Caterpillar
Hi Bugman,
We saw these caterpillars on Prince Edward Island (Canada) recently & assumed they’ be in our Audubon guides but are not. Have just found your web-site and love it ! Can you tell us what these are? Thanks.
Christine & Norman
Hi Christine and Norman,
Though your photo is blurry, this looks to us like a Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, Tyria jacobaeae. According to BugGuide: “Introduced from Europe as a control for introduced weedy Ragwort, the host plant for its caterpillars, which is toxic to livestock.” The interesting thing is that BugGuide only reports this species from California, Oregon and Western Canada, as does the Butterfies and Moths of North America site. You might want to check with your local department of agriculture to see if the species has been introduced to your area.
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Posted 31 July 2007
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