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Project Noah Nature School
Lymantria dispar
Egg masses are light tan, and the eggs inside are black. Each mass may contain 400-600 eggs. The caterpillars are very hairy - Early instars do not exhibit the characteristic blue and red pairs of tubercles.
These caterpillars were on the back of a shed in a semi-rural backyard. The area was very shady and damp. There was a pupal exuviae right below the caterpillars (see last picture), which makes sense for gypsy moths because females are flightless and often lay eggs near their exuviae.
Spotted on Apr 23, 2016
Submitted on May 17, 2016
7 Comments
Thank you! Great spotting :)
Thanks ForestDragon and Machi! Love your pics and video Machi!
I agree with Christine. These are Gypsy Moth caterpillars. http://bugguide.net/node/view/8780
I just noticed the pupa(?) remains in your last photo and I also observed those on the tree I spotted the larvae on. Perhaps from the same moth. I posted my photos today, so maybe if I get an ID soon you can check it against yours. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/213...
Yes, but I have a lot of photos to upload so it might be a while before I get to the photos of them hatched. I have a spotting of the egg case before it got soaked and weathered though: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/196... I have no idea as to what kind of moth they could be.
Wow, cool - did you get a pic? I was thinking this could be gypsy moths, but am not sure.
Just spotted these hatching in my yard too. Interesting egg cases