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Project Noah Nature School
Pyrrharctia isabella
Fuzzy, banded caterpillar with black anterior and posterior ends, and reddish brown in the center. The colors change as they molt to successive instars though, and they become more reddish brown with age. The caterpillar in the first picture had a lot of dew on its setae, which made it look like it had spiked its setae with hair gel.
Spotted in a meadow and throughout a deciduous forest. I spotted 25 woolly bears during a 1.5 hour hike!
The woolly bear's setae are not urticating, so they do not usually cause irritation or injury from being handled. However, the larvae should not be handled because their sharp setae may cause dermatitis in some susceptible people.
Spotted on Oct 4, 2017
Submitted on Oct 4, 2017
6 Comments
We were lucky! We weren't even looking for them, they were just EVERYWHERE. We fortuitously saw a total of 36 caterpillars during that hike, 25 of which were woolly bears.
Your welcome, Christine....You are very lucky, to have seen 25 woolly bear caterpillars, in 1.5 hours....
Thanks for your comments maplemoth.
This caterpillar, is a masterpiece of beauty and color.....
A very cute caterpillar....
Very beautiful photos, and a very beautiful caterpillar....