Subject: Caterpillar ID?
Geographic location of the bug: Occoquan National Wildlife Refuge, Occoquan, Virginia
Date: 09/08/2018
Time: 05:50 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hi Daniel,
I observed (and guarded) this Caterpillar crossing the road, and I can’t seem to find a reference with anything even close. Perhaps you can help? Thanks in Advance.
How you want your letter signed: Seth
Dear Seth,
Based on this BugGuide image, we are confident this is a Yellow Necked Caterpillar, Datana ministra. According to BugGuide: “Early instars feed gregariously and skeletonize leaves. The larvae feed on Malus, Quercus, Betula and Salix species. Young larvae skeletonise the leaves of their host plant. Later, they feed on all of the leaf except the leaf stalk. They feed in groups.”