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Black Spikey & Orange Stripes (Giant Leopard moth caterpillar)

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Giant leopard moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Guy from Trinidad and Tobago
Not sure what insect you have in Trinidad and Tobago that looks similar, BUT this caterpillar does NOT sting...it is NOT a pest...does NOT eat tomatoes here in North America.
We do not have good references for caterpillars nor pests of Trinidad and Tobago, so we can not help you ID your caterpillar. Would suggest you contact the local Agriculture department.
A real Pest
by: Guy from Trinidad and Tobago

These things are a real pest in the Caribbean, some are even know to carry a virus, so if you get stung; seek help.

They are really ravenous and eat most fammers crops. And when after they molt, the moth that forms kills of tomato plants.

They may look pretty, but can be a real pest if you're a farmer and home farmer.

Please be careful...

Guy from Trinidad and Tobago
Raising caterpillars
by: Moni

Kaden
here is another site for learning how to raise caterpillars - http://bugguide.net/node/view/203352
There is lots of info on that page.
Leopard moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Kaden
Forgot to tell you what they eat :-)
The larvae feed on a great variety of broad-leaved plants, including banana, cabbage, cherry, dandelion, maple, orange, sunflower, violet, and willow. Dandelion should be easy to find but do not feed them leaves treated with pesticides.
Bugguide.net says " Spends the winter as a caterpillar (Caterpillars of Eastern Forests(1) says it overwinters August to May - presumably this varies by location). One generation per year in the north; sometimes two generations in the south." You do not say where you live so I do not know if this caterpillar is 1st generation...you perhaps live in southern United States?
Leopard moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Kaden
Glad you have reared some other caterpillars, then you know some of the following. Here is my standard answer for rearing caterpillars. If you have any questions please ask folks at the buglifecyle.com website...they are the pros.
Thanks so much for your interest in insects...they are so cool!!

The rearing of caterpillars is a challenge. Mother Nature does it best. And just so you know ahead of time, when you find a caterpillar in the 'wild', sometimes they have been parasitized ...meaning another insect like a fly or wasp has laid eggs inside the caterpillar. So when you try to rear the caterpillar, it dies from the eggs inside it - not something you can predict.

Here is a good site for rearing caterpillars...click on Raising.... on the right hand side to read the various suggestions. You can also submit questions - Which I would recommend for this insect. These are folks that raise them regularly.
http://www.buglifecycle.com

With all that said the basics of rearing any insect is to feed it what it wants to eat...fresh (never sprayed with insecticides) food continually. Then, when the caterpillar stops eating...they will typically go searching for a place to pupate. Since yours has pupated in soil you could gently put it between paper towels as described below or cover the container with a paper towel or cloth (so no predators get in to destroy the pupa).
It is best to provide layers of barely damp paper towels for the caterpillar to pupate in between. Then this needs to be kept someplace where the temperatures are much like they are outside. Some folks put them in the refrigerator to imitate the cold of winter if the insect over winters as a pupa. Then, put a drop of water on the paper towel once a month thru the winter until the trees start to put out foliage. Then you would bring the pupa outside to let it emerge with the normal weather. Put a stick in the container for the moth to climb up on.
This is a brief description and may not be enough for rearing but gives you an idea.
Let us know how it goes...you can send in photos of the various stages of development here or to buglifecycle.com or to bugguide.net.
Good Luck!
How to care for my leopard moth caterpillar
by: Kaden

I am 10 yrs old & always loved animals & insects. My mom would help me find caterpillars & watch them grow from caterpillars to moths or butterflies. I found a leopard moth caterpillar in my yard and want to know what to feed him so I can watch him change from a caterpillar to a moth or butterfly. Thanks for your information!
GIANT LEOPARD MOTH CATERPILLAR
by: Moni

SunflowerPower
It is amazing the temperatures they can live thru. Hope you get to see the moth. Most moths come to lights around 11-12pm at night...so you might need to stay up to see one.
Good Luck!
Overwintered our minus 21 degrees!
by: SunflowerPower

Mar.25, 2011: have just found a huge bristly caterpillar among some rocks and weeds I was clearing; with dark orange/red bands between. It is very sluggish, but not surprising as we had a record-breaking minus 21 deg. in Jan. here in SE Kansas. I have never seen a Giant Leopard Moth but will be watching this summer. I will photograph it and let it go near our lilac bushes.
Giant Lepaord MOth Catepillar
by: tj

I found one on my dirveway in Stroud, Oklahoma this weekend didnot pick it upas didnt not know what it was. It was in defense mode and I had never see it. It was actually pretty very black and bright orange rings. I went out to get it and it was gone. Never seen one before.
Giant Leopard Moth
by: mournblade

The initial comment said that a specimen was found in central Florida. I'm in central Pennsylvania, and I just found the same thing in my back yard this evening. I have NEVER seen one like this, and I've lived all 40 of my years here.

Cool caterpillar, regardless. Oh, and great website--glad I found this!
Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar
by: Laura

I just found one in my yard! I didn't want to touch it so i put it in a bowl to get a closer look. then I looked on the net for pix of what it will look like and they are very pretty! I have never saw anything like it before!!
Leopard Moth??!!
by: Anonymous

I just found one and it looked so threatening and poisonous so I wanted to check and found your website on Google and wanted to check it out thanks for all the great info BYE!!
Giant Leopard moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Sara
The spines do not sting and the caterpillar is not poisonous.
GIANT LEOPARD MOTH CATERPILLAR
by: sara

is this caterpillar poisoness? we have one caterpillar and it chows down on leaves like theres no tomorrow! Like i said is he poisness? Just wondering!!! =]
this caterpillar scared my dog
by: Anonymous

I had to look this one up too last year-and found that it was a leopard moth caterpillar. I heard my dog barking like crazy and I went outside to see what the big emergency was. He looked like he was barking and angry at the ground-then I saw this giant fat, fuzzy thing making its way across the patio. My dog (a pitbull by the way) was scared and barking at a caterpillar. I moved it to the garden.
jackson michigan
by: Anonymous

My granddaughter just showed me a black with red/orange stripes and puffs of black spikes. I have never seen one of these before.
Giant Leopard moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Dear Anonymous
As I state in the very first comment(see bottom of comment page) The spines do not sting.
Therefore it is not dangerous.
There are a few caterpillars that do have spines that can sting if handled. If you don't handle them then you don't have to worry about it. :-)
catapiler
by: Anonymous

i have the same one to. how do i now if it is dangerous
caterpillar
by: fcdgdcgf

i just was outside and saw the same exact thing. i am in maryland. i was looking all over the enternet to find this.
Giant leopard moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Thanks Michele for checking.
Great to know what it is. Some of the images did look more orange than red and most of those were caterpillars in the south...so may be a regional difference.
Most references say that sometimes you see the male moths at lights, but the females do not come to lights. There were several caterpillars in my yard this fall but I did not see the moths at my porch lights this summer either.
In the south, you should have two generations of this insect. Perhaps you will see more this next year!
Giant Leopard Moth it is!
by: Michele

After looking at the links you provided, the coloring on the agreeable moth doesn't look as much like what the caterpillar in question looked like in real life (sorry that my image wasn't better).

I've never seen a leopard moth before... how cool to find its larva!
Tiger moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Well, after continuing the search, I will stick with this probably being the Giant Leopard moth larva tho it could be the Agreeable Tiger Moth caterpillar which has more yellow colored stripes.
Please look at these sites and see what you think?
Giant Leopard caterpillar
http://bugguide.net/node/view/493/bgimage
Agreeable Tiger caterpillar http://bugguide.net/node/view/3409/bgimage
Thank you
by: Michele

Thank you for your quick response. Of course, I think the caterpillar is a thousand times more thankful than I am, since he is now back outside in his natural environment.
Giant Leopard moth caterpillar?
by: Moni

My quick response is that it looks like the larva or caterpillar of the Giant Leopard moth. The ones we have up north have red between the spines rather than orange, so I will need to do some further looking.
But I wanted to let you know it is OK to let it back outside. It will not hurt the dog...the dog will know to stay away from such a spiny thing. The spines do not sting.
Here in the Midwest our caterpillars are the stage that overwinters...I just saw one earlier this week when we had a short warm spell and it fell out of some straw I was putting on the strawberries.
Will check on the coloring and get back to you about the exact species.
Thanks for sharing such a neat critter!

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