Subject: Western Tussock Moth Caterpillar?
Location: Jamul, California
February 8, 2013 5:33 pm
I found this last spring (May 20) in the mountains west of San Diego, CA. I think I have successfully found it online, though it’s hard to differentiate between the Douglas Fir Tussock and the Western Tussock. He was crawling along when I scooped him up with an oak leaf, and then he got into a defensive position. The terrain is mountainous, dry, with lots of oak trees. I let him go on his way afterward, of course.
Signature: Ryan
Hi Ryan,
We got as far as formatting your query for posting, but we cannot do any research until the morning. Perhaps one of our readers has insomnia and there will magically be a comment in the morning. We can only commit to agreeing that this is a Tussock Moth Caterpillar in a genus that might be spelled Orgyia.