Q: Are these orange and black caterpillars I see on the highway nearly every fall one of the stinging kind I have heard of? They seem to be pretty bristly. Would it be safe to pick one up? A: Woolly bears are completely harmless except to the rare person who happens to be allergic to them. I like picking up woolly bears because they roll into a neat little fluffy ball. However, a few moth caterpillars do indeed have bristles that are hollow tubes containing venom; these can break off in the skin and be very painful.
At least one instance of a death in the United States, a little girl in Florida, has been recorded from the sting of several saddleback caterpillars, a species that has such venomous spines. The Io moth caterpillar is also a stinging species. The elegant Io moth has a pretty, greenish-yellow caterpillar, with red and white stripes on the side. The male turns into a large and beautiful yellow moth with eyespots, which are huge circles on the wings that look like eyes.
The brownish female Io moth does not have eyespots. Most caterpillars with conspicuous ornamental spikes and spines are actually not venomous. But by appearing formidable they probably avoid being eaten by some predators that would like a tasty caterpillar meal.
They hatch twice a year. In Autumn, the caterpillar will settle into secluded sites under fallen logs or among rocks. In April or May, they can be found in bark or rocks and enclose themselves in dark-colored oval cocoons.
They also like to feed on garden plants such as cabbage, spinach greens, asters and garden herbs. Even though they stay mostly on the ground, they will sometimes feed on trees, preferring the leaves of maple, elm and birch.
Behavior: The woolly bear will almost freeze solid in the winter during hibernation. Their body produces a chemical cryoprotectant that acts as an anti-freeze that protects their body tissue and organs from being damaged. When spring arrives, the woolly bear thaws out and will be active again. There are two generations of woolly bears each year May and August.
The second generation is the one that is most noticed in the fall as they cross the roads looking to find places under dead plant debris where they will spend the winter as larva. In the spring they feed briefly before changing into a cocoon. Life cycle: Once the temperature in the spring rises, the woolly bear begins to thaw out.
That is the longest life cycle of any moth or butterfly. And what about those giant mystery cocoons that appear on the snow in the late winter?
The cocoons are the over-wintering stage of a giant silk moth species. These species only have one generation a year.
The caterpillars feed on a variety of plants including trees such as box elder, cherry, birch and oak. In the late fall silk moth caterpillars weave large brown cocoons. The cocoons may be wrapped in group of leaves, attached to a branch or on the ground.
In the spring a beautiful moth hatches out, but it will only live a few days. These moths do not even have mouth parts to allow them to feed.
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