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Green caterpillar with black spines (American dagger moth caterpillar)

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AMERICAN DAGGER MOTH CATERPILLAR
by: Moni

Sarah
Perhaps some of the hairs or chemical that causes the rash from where you touched the caterpillar contaminated other parts of you body when you touched your skin before washing. Just like the oils from poison ivy can be spread from clothing to your skin so perhaps can the chemical that causes the rash.
Sorry you got a rash...glad it will be gone soon.

I have a rash..
by: Sarah

My mom and I saw one of these at a park the other day. I just thought it was a cute fuzzy caterpillar, so I decided to play with it. Nothing really happened, besides an extremely small pain while it was crawling on my skin. The next day I woke up with itchy red bumps where it had crawled, and they are currently spreading over other places of my body that the caterpillar had not been. If you see one of these, don't handle them!

Dagger moth caterpillar
by: Moni

catipillarluvr
Sorry it did not emerge into the moth for you. It is not easy to rear caterpillars to moths. Sometimes they have a disease and die before they can become a moth. Other times we do not provide the right temperature, moisture or living conditions the pupa needs to live.
Thanks for trying.

i saw one of those!
by: catipillarluvr

my mom and i once saw that! we put it in a
tupawear with some sticks and grass, and when we checked on it the next day, in was in golden-brown cocoon on one of the sticks. then we put it in a large peanut butter jar. it never came out
:(

American dagger moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Claire
Your caterpillar is an American dagger moth caterpillar.
The caterpillar's hairs can cause skin irritation ...tho is not poisonous. It is said if it is handled your skin will itch and perhaps get a rash.
These caterpillars are white to yellow with the early or middle instars (stages) more yellow.
These are found east of the Rockies.
The caterpillars feed on leaves of birch, elm, ash, hickory, maple, oak, poplar, walnut, willow, and other deciduous trees.
Here are photos of the moth and other stages.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/505/bgimage

Hope school is going well...now you can tell your friends what kind of caterpillar it is.


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