Subject: What is it??
Geographic location of the bug: Shark Valley, Everglades National Park
Date: 12/13/2019
Time: 01:56 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hello!
Never seen anything quite like this. It was on a cocoplum leaf.
How you want your letter signed: Mike
Dear Mike,
This is definitely a Stinging Slug Caterpillar in the family Limacodidae, but we are uncertain of the species. The red color is quite unusual. We believe it might be a Crowned Slug Caterpillar, Isa textula, which is pictured on BugGuide, but we cannot locate any images of red individuals. Sometimes caterpillars change colors right before metamorphosis.