Subject: Stinging Slug Caterpillar
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
January 20, 2015 12:01 pm
Hi Mr Bugman,
Please could you clarify exactly what these demon spawn are… and more precisely how toxic/dangerous they are?
I was pruning a bush and was stung by 5-6 (out of around 100) of these devil bugs! An extremely painful sting that has left an itchy rash…
Any information is appreciated.
Thank you
Signature: Twice bitten, thrice shy.
Dear Twice bitten, thrice shy,
We just posted several images of identical Stinging Slug Caterpillars that also appeared in large numbers in Johannesburg, but we were only able to identify them to the family level of Limacodidae, but we did not search our own archives at that time. Back in 2011, Karl identified an image of a Stinging Slug Caterpillar as Latoia vivida, and he provided us with this link to Photo Camel and this link to Outdoor Photo. The adult is pictured on African Moths.