Comments on: Saddleback Caterpillar

By: Nicole Lewis

Nicole Lewis — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:31:11 +0000

Did it look like this?– http://www4.samford.edu/schools/artsci/biology/zoology/invertzoo-05f/pages/24.htm I have watched some captive caterpillars “grow into” their hairs, so when they’re young the bristles are much larger relative to the rest of their body. I wonder if the poison similarly dilutes as the whole body mass grows? I have been fortunate to never have any visible damage after the swelling goes down, out of the 6 or so times I’ve been stung. Perhaps some populations/subspecies are naturally worse?

By: Eldon Burr

Eldon Burr — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:48:27 +0000

I first encountered a saddleback caterpillar about 15 years ago, before there was an Internet to find out what it was. I finally found it in an insect book weeks later. It had a lot more bristles that the one shown in the photo above. An Internet search on the name will find you a photo of the bristly one. I merely brushed against it with my bare shoulder and it felt like I had been stung by 5 wasps, all at the same time. The skin died in a streak on my shoulder and took a couple of weeks to heal. These are bad bugs!

By: Nicole Lewis

Nicole Lewis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:56:26 +0000

Ouch. I have brushed against one a couple times in a row, too, before I realized what it was. Thankfully they don’t “bite”, but the poison from those stingers feels at least as bad as a cut. I hope it was some consolation that it was more beautiful and interesting than a thorn.

By: hoot

hoot — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:57:14 +0000

I was bite by one five times yesterday. I thought it was a thorn.

By: nelson carter

nelson carter — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:56:46 +0000

Thank you for the information.
I was on the stinging end of one yesterday and have been trying to find out it’s identify.

By: Nicole Lewis

Nicole Lewis — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:07:50 +0000

I have also wondered what eats these but haven’t been able to find a thorough answer. I did learn (from a paper on the Ecological Society of America website) that generalist predators like assassin bugs and lacewing larvae prefer to eat non-spiny caterpillars, and paper wasps even learn through experience to avoid them. But that implies that they aren’t ignored 100% by those and other usual predators of caterpillars. Also, some species might PREFER to parasitize the stinging caterpillars because they are less likely to be eaten before the parasite babies get their fill and move on.

By: Nancy Yergin

Nancy Yergin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:13:22 +0000

It’s beautiful enough. I’m wearing gloves in the garden anyways.

What sort of critter eats IT?