Subject: Yellow and Black Fuzzy Caterpillar
Geographic location of the bug: Georgia… east of Atlanta
Date: 08/26/2018
Time: 07:30 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Bugman,
Found this guy running through our garage. He caught our attention because he was moving fast! Tried to search Google, but can’t find one that looks exactly right. I know there are a lot of different wooly bears, but none of them look quite like this one. The black bands have longer hairs than the yellow. We took this picture, then gently led him outside to the trees.
Thanks!
How you want your letter signed: Curious in Georgia
Dear Curious in Georgia,
You are correct there are a lot of different Woolly Bear caterpillars, because according to BugGuide: “265 species in 88 genera listed at nearctica.com” which means there are 265 different caterpillars in the Tiger Moth subfamily. As you can see from this BugGuide image, this appears to be a Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar. According to BugGuide: “Late instar caterpillar mostly black with tufts of stiff black hairs of equal length radiating around body. Rolls up head to tail when disturbed. When curled, red intersegmental rings visible between the hairs.”