Subject: Name this woolly worm
Geographic location of the bug: Central Kentucky
Date: 08/04/2018
Time: 06:12 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Would LOVE to know what this is! Photographed 8/4/18 on land in Hart County Ky
How you want your letter signed: Courious George
Dear Courious George,
Are you curious as well? Your caterpillar looks remarkably like both the Caterpillar of the American Dagger Moth and the Caterpillar of the Banded Tussock Moth, but the pattern of the black tufts of hair on your caterpillar are noticeably different. After what seems like an interminable time searching for the identity of your caterpillar on the internet, we need to give our eyes a rest from the computer and go outside to enjoy the late afternoon, California sunlight. We are posting your Caterpillar as unidentified and we hope one of our readers will be able to come to our assistance.
Julian Donahue provides an identification.
Hi Daniel,
Good for you to suspect the identification–it is neither of the two candidates.
Both of these are larvae of the Spotted Apatelodes Moth (Apatelodes torrefacta; Apatelodidae).
More images of adults and larvae, and distribution, here: http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=7663
All the best,
Julian