1st woolly bear caterpillar of the season

[Bon]

I like how it has red ribs under all that black!!  He's my fav color!!

 

 

 

[wildflowerpa]

_{We were always told that this kind of a wooly worm was poisonous if it bit/stung  you.unlike the other wooly worms. Don't know for sure though.}

[fadedgenes]

Hubby came home today with a load of wood from a tree he cut down and said that woolies must have had a nest under some loose bark.  He said probably about 20 or more bounced on the ground.  Most were almost all brown with a tiny band of black, if any.  The ones we saw last week at camp were all black, like this one.  

[Sanibel]

That wooly worm is the caterpillar of the Giant Leopard Moth. The moth will be bright white with big black spots. That wooly worm doesn't bite or sting. The regular black and rusty brown wooly worm doesn't bite or sting either and will turn into an Isabella Tiger Moth which is a pale orange with brown markings and not quite as showy. There are quite a few varieties of wooly worms in our area.

[Petee]

We found them earlier in the summer but they were the tiny instars.  I think they go through something like 5-6 changes before they are ready to hibernate.

[don62]

So does this mean a cold snowy winter?

[WMJ77]

doesnt it always