Current Events > Need help identifying a caterpillar I found

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm normally decent at this sort of thing but this one is very small (1st instar, probably hatched today or yesterday at earliest). Hoping to rear it but if I can't figure out what it eats, I'll have to leave it outside and hope it finds a food source. It was near any plants at all and most likely a moth fucked up and laid an egg on a Fedex drop box instead of whatever plant it eats, as there was no way it would have left a food source and walked several hundred feet away to where it was.




It's a little bit furry, less than a centimeter long (had to have a co-work take pics because my phone sucks and it didn't look like anything to me when I tried to take pics. I live in New England (western MA) if location helps narrow it down.

Maybe @dolomedes might be able to figure it out?
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So cute!!!
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JimCarrysToe posted...

So cute!!!

yeah but I can't keep it if I can't feed it :(
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Those are the second most common caterpillars around here but I dunno what theyre called.

Heck the black and orange furry ones I still just call fuzzy wuzzies and I see them all the time. I should know what both off them are.
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CanuckCowboy posted...

Those are the second most common caterpillars around here but I dunno what theyre called.

Heck the black and orange furry ones I still just call fuzzy wuzzies and I see them all the time. I should know what both off them are.

oh no shit really? These?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella

if so, it will be easy to feed. iirc they eat the leaves of those plants that are weeds or sort of weeds that grow anywhere with grass. That shouldn't be a problem.
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Machete posted...

CanuckCowboy posted...

Those are the second most common caterpillars around here but I dunno what theyre called.

Heck the black and orange furry ones I still just call fuzzy wuzzies and I see them all the time. I should know what both off them are.

oh no shit really? These?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella

if so, it will be easy to feed. iirc they eat the leaves of those plants that are weeds or sort of weeds that grow anywhere with grass. That shouldn't be a problem.

Yep.

And anecdotally Ive seen those green dudes on a lot of chewed leaves so Im guessing leaves of whatever tree or bush you found it near are valid food sources.
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CanuckCowboy posted...

Machete posted...

CanuckCowboy posted...

Those are the second most common caterpillars around here but I dunno what theyre called.

Heck the black and orange furry ones I still just call fuzzy wuzzies and I see them all the time. I should know what both off them are.

oh no shit really? These?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella

if so, it will be easy to feed. iirc they eat the leaves of those plants that are weeds or sort of weeds that grow anywhere with grass. That shouldn't be a problem.

Yep.

And anecdotally Ive seen those green dudes on a lot of chewed leaves so Im guessing leaves of whatever tree or bush you found it near are valid food sources.

apparently they can eat dandelions and grass too. I've had them before and they always died as cocoons but as a kid I didn't know that it's bad to keep them inside over the winter. The moths are not super interesting looking, so I'll probably just put it outside in the backyard and it should be fine.

Thanks for this. I had a feeling it was a noctuid moth of some kind so at least I was on the right track lol
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update: I think it's actually a related species.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_leopard_moth

I found one of these on that same drop box last week. I had suspected maybe this little guy what its offspring but I didn't know what species of moth it was so I couldn't really look into it but the moth in the link was definitely the one I found.

Most of the food sources are the same as the woolly bears so that helps.

editL apparently they will also eat lettuce, sunflower and cannabis >_>
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Machete posted...

CanuckCowboy posted...

Machete posted...

CanuckCowboy posted...

Those are the second most common caterpillars around here but I dunno what theyre called.

Heck the black and orange furry ones I still just call fuzzy wuzzies and I see them all the time. I should know what both off them are.

oh no shit really? These?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella

if so, it will be easy to feed. iirc they eat the leaves of those plants that are weeds or sort of weeds that grow anywhere with grass. That shouldn't be a problem.

Yep.

And anecdotally Ive seen those green dudes on a lot of chewed leaves so Im guessing leaves of whatever tree or bush you found it near are valid food sources.

apparently they can eat dandelions and grass too. I've had them before and they always died as cocoons but as a kid I didn't know that it's bad to keep them inside over the winter. The moths are not super interesting looking, so I'll probably just put it outside in the backyard and it should be fine.

Thanks for this. I had a feeling it was a noctuid moth of some kind so at least I was on the right track lol

Awesome. No problem I dont see any reason that wouldnt work out for the little guy.

Now Im wondering what happened where I stopped being into little cool bugs and just transitioned to plants.
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I was expecting some impressive catepillar, not this petty thing :v

vocedelmorte posted...

I was expecting some impressive catepillar, not this petty thing :v

I will fight you for caterpillar dudes honour.
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reminds me of 3rd grade science class when we watched one pupate
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Wait a sec omg they eat cannabis?

Dude imma get one and me n my cat will swim together and me n my caterpillar will get baked together.

Thats life at its best.
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He's just a little fuckin guy. Just put him on a bunch of plant leaves and beer and watch him go to town.
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CanuckCowboy posted...

Machete posted...

CanuckCowboy posted...

Machete posted...

CanuckCowboy posted...

Those are the second most common caterpillars around here but I dunno what theyre called.

Heck the black and orange furry ones I still just call fuzzy wuzzies and I see them all the time. I should know what both off them are.

oh no shit really? These?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella

if so, it will be easy to feed. iirc they eat the leaves of those plants that are weeds or sort of weeds that grow anywhere with grass. That shouldn't be a problem.

Yep.

And anecdotally Ive seen those green dudes on a lot of chewed leaves so Im guessing leaves of whatever tree or bush you found it near are valid food sources.

apparently they can eat dandelions and grass too. I've had them before and they always died as cocoons but as a kid I didn't know that it's bad to keep them inside over the winter. The moths are not super interesting looking, so I'll probably just put it outside in the backyard and it should be fine.

Thanks for this. I had a feeling it was a noctuid moth of some kind so at least I was on the right track lol

Awesome. No problem I dont see any reason that wouldnt work out for the little guy.

Now Im wondering what happened where I stopped being into little cool bugs and just transitioned to plants.

for me, it's select bugs. I like mantids, dragonflies and caterpillars (more moth than butterfly, and the larger, the more interested I am in them. Sphynx and giant silkworm types. I had hoped this one might be a luna moth because they look pretty similar at this stage, but I noticed a few details that ruled that out).

update: gave it some grass and plaintain and violet leaves (all listed as food sources). It is exploring them but has yet to show any interest in eating :(
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spudger posted...

reminds me of 3rd grade science class when we watched one pupate

we did Monarchs and Painted Lady butterflies (1st and 2nd grade). One time we had like 50 monarch caterpillars and they all died as pupae from parasites :(

every single fucking one

on a field trip, some girl found a Cecropia Moth caterpillar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyalophora_cecropia

It pupated shortly after she brought it back but it was also parasitized, which really pissed me off because those moths are awesome and the largest moth found in North America.
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Machete posted...

spudger posted...

reminds me of 3rd grade science class when we watched one pupate

we did Monarchs and Painted Lady butterflies (1st and 2nd grade). One time we had like 50 monarch caterpillars and they all died as pupae from parasites :(

every single fucking one

on a field trip, some girl found a Cecropia Moth caterpillar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyalophora_cecropia

It pupated shortly after she brought it back but it was also parasitized, which really pissed me off because those moths are awesome and the largest moth found in North America.

I was like 20 before I found out I very rarely saw true monarchs and mostly saw viceroys aka false monarchs =(
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Has it eaten anything?
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Not yet that I know of. I'm a bit drunk now and I can't find it in the container. I will look later or in the morning.

Viceroys are fucking really cool though.

I never would see them down here I thought. When I did, nope, just tiny monarchs...

Then one day I found a caterpillar. Monarchs are yellow, white, black striped with black tendrils.

Viceroys look like literal fucking bird shit. I dont even remember what they eat.

Literal bird shit.
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I usually just toss caterpillars to my chickens. They nest up high in the trees in these huge spider web looking pockets that are the size of a basketball and are a fire hazard when it's hot and dry season. They eat up the crops pretty bad also.
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MabusIncarnate posted...

I usually just toss caterpillars to my chickens. They nest up high in the trees in these huge spider web looking pockets that are the size of a basketball and are a fire hazard when it's hot and dry season. They eat up the crops pretty bad also.

Those are shitty ones, probably tent caterpillars.

Anyway, this one is not eating any of this shit it's supposed to eat so it's going outside. I tried :/
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That is a Hungry Caterpillar. I suggest you read the book so you know what to feed it.
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Chicken posted...

That is a Hungry Caterpillar. I suggest you read the book so you know what to feed it.

There is a museum dedicated to the dude who wrote that book at a college in the town I used to live in >_>
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RIP caterpillar :(

Wasn't eating so I put it outside in the backyard like a half hour ago hoping it would find food and live... and my landlord decided to mow the lawn just now >_<
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