Virginia Ctenucha Moth

Description:

A small white and yellow caterpillar with long black tufts at each end and shorter, smaller tufts down it's back. (In some areas these caterpillars can be all white and yellow, with no black).

Habitat:

This caterpillar can be found living in wet fields and meadows and along forest trails. It feeds mostly on long grasses, irises and sedges and undergoes metamorphosis between May and August. In the past this species was found primarily in Eastern North America, but in the last 50 years has expanded it's range westward.

Notes:

In the last 2 days I have seen 9 of these cute little caterpillars. During my recent exploration to find different species, I spent a lot of time looking at leaves and branches on trees and not so much down at grasses, (Which is where these guys like to be). And the yesterday on my walk through the marsh I noticed one. After that I kept looking, and was surprised at how many of them there actually are. The info I found says Ctenucha virginica caterpillars pupate anywhere from May to August, however, it is the end of August now and the caterpillars I observed seem to have some growing left to do yet before they go through metamorphosis.