Western Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Description:

By far the coolest caterpillar I've seen locally yet! This one has two rows of orange spots along each side and a short row of red up the center near the tail. There are black tufts of hear making a fork tail, one tuft about 1/4 of the way back on the top and two on the sides of the head like pigtails :) There are also a couple white tufts of hair just behind the black. Long white hairs cover the head like bangs. The hairs are light yellow and gray. The skin has several horizontal rows of yellow stripes toward the front that can be seen on the last image. The rest of the skin is mottled gray. This thing screams warning! The cocoon can be seen at my other spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/104...

Habitat:

Scrub Oak in riparian area along trail

Notes:

Tussock moth caterpillars are known for their "distinctive appearance of alternating bristles and haired projections. The larvae are also hairy, often with hairs packed in tufts, and in many species the hairs break off very easily and are extremely irritating to the skin (especially members of the genus Euproctis; Schaefer, 1989). This highly effective defence serves the moth throughout its life cycle as the hairs are incorporated into the cocoon, from where they are collected and stored by the emerging adult female at the tip of the abdomen and used to camouflage and protect the eggs as they are laid." - Wikipedia