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Project Noah Nature School
Baby, black caterpillars with orange down the middle of the back. There are tufts of long, black hairs.
Salix tree along trail at Lake Hodges near ditch.
Spotted on Mar 27, 2012
Submitted on Mar 29, 2012
5 Comments
Hi J, that's a great "shot in the dark'! This is only a few yards from where I've seen the Nevada Buck Moth the last couple years during the month of November. I spotted an older larvae the end of May: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/114...
They look like very early Hemileucinae instars, but that's a shot in the dark.
Hi Karen, I didn't see any other than what's in these shots. I didn't see any eggs either but these are more mature than my other spotting that appear to have just emerged.
These look like eastern tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) http://facultyweb.cortland.edu/fitzgeral... Did you see any tent type webs in the trees?
The more I look at this series, the more I think there may be two different species based on the colors. Some seem all orange and some all black. Thoughts?