Banded Woolly Bear caterpillar

Pyrrharctia isabella

Description:

A Banded Woolly Bear caterpillar spotted on the boardwalk that goes through the central wetland area at Huntley Meadows Park. "The adult is the Isabella Tiger Moth and the larva is called the Banded Woolly Bear. ... Folklore of the eastern United States and Canada holds that the relative amounts of brown and black on the skin of a Woolly Bear caterpillar (commonly abundant in the fall) are an indication of the severity of the coming winter. It is believed that if a Woolly Bear caterpillar's brown stripe is thick, the winter weather will be mild and if the brown stripes are narrow, the winter will be severe. In reality, hatchlings from the same clutch of eggs can display considerable variation in their color distribution, and the brown band tends to grow with age; if there is any truth to the tale, it is highly speculative." Source Credit: Wikipedia