Comments on: White-Marked Tussock Moth Caterpillar

By: Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:41:15 +0000

They’re only poisonous if you eat them, they aren’t one of the caterpillars that actively sting if touched. I understand their hairs could cause skin irritation if you handle them too much, but I’ve never had any problems with that myself.

By: Madison

Madison — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 21:59:39 +0000

are these caterpillers poisonous because i have one on my wall right next to my front door

By: Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:09:55 +0000

Jordan: If it was eating oak leaves when you found it, then there is a pretty good chance you’ll be able to get it to pupate. Just give it a couple of fresh leaves every day, and wait. If you have one of those commercial bug cages, they are pretty well ventilated so it should do OK. The fresh leaves are to provide both food and moisture, so it is important to change them every day and not leave it with partially dried-out leaves.

I think they mostly pupate in late summer, so it might be a month or so before you get a coccoon. Then again, if you are far enough south that it is already nearly mature, it might pupate tomorrow. One can never tell.

Their hairs do tend to be irritating to the skin, so it is good advice to tell your neighbor not to touch it, but at least it isn’t one of the painful-stinging caterpillars. Although, dealing with 2-3 year olds and caterpillars, I find that the big problem is keeping the child from hurting the caterpillar.

By: jordan morrison

jordan morrison — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:47:54 +0000

My little 2-year- old neighbor and I found a white marked tussock moth caterpillar in my back yard. She is keeping it in a bug cage with some oak leaves. I told her that it is poisonous and can hurt her if she touches it and I made her swear that she wouldn’t touch it. should I keep it there and trust that it can live until it needs to pupate?

By: Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:23:21 +0000

Stacie: One thing I’ve noticed about insect range maps is that they are almost always too conservative and out-of-date. Which is not too surprising, because they depend on insects actually being seen by someone who will report them. I expect that these caterpillars probably got carried to California relatively recently by someone moving from further east, and now you are getting a population explosion because their predators haven’t caught up to them yet.

By: Stacie

Stacie — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:54:39 +0000

My boys and I live in San Diego, California. We went to Balboa park today and found a tree covered by this crazy beautiful caterpillar. Everything that I’ve found online says they are as far west as Texas, but, surprise surprise, here they are!

By: DeAnn

DeAnn — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:58:43 +0000

We went for one of our days in spring break to visit Dade Battlefield in Bushnell, Fl. for the day. It was covered with these caterpillars everywhere. We actually ate our picnic in the car. They where even falling out of the trees. Would have been a great adventure if it was not invested with these guys.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:08:36 +0000

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the quick response, I have informed DARD of my find and included some photographs for them, I also photographed a Wall Butterfly in my yard in early June and thought this may be of interest to them too as I am aware of the declining butterfly population.

Thanks for the info on who to contact, it is very much appreciated and I intend to keep an eye on my yard in the future for anything else, maybe I should take a look in my garden too. I only moved into the property last October so it’s my first spring/summer here.

By: Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:18:40 +0000

Kelly: Just one caterpillar probably won’t do much serious damage to your tree (unless the tree is very small), but if it pupates on the tree and turns out to be female, that’s likely to be a problem. Since the females don’t have wings, they’ll lay eggs on the same tree as they pupate on, setting it up for quite an infestation in the future.

You might want to check with your Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to make sure that they are aware that these moths are in your area.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:32:30 +0000

BTW I live in Northumberland, in a very small village.