Subject: What’s this fuzzy guy?
Location: NE PA
December 6, 2015 10:42 pm
Hello! I found this guy inside an old deer skull in Northeast PA. Is this a wooly bear?
Signature: Erin
Dear Erin,
This is the cocoon of a moth that has incorporated the caterpillar hairs into the spinning of the cocoon. A Woolly Bear in the subfamily Arctiinae is a very likely candidate. Your individual looks very much like this Spotted Tussock Moth Cocoon from our archives.
Thank you! I put it outside in a container just in case it is alive and breaks out in the spring 🙂 how exciting!
Erin