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White Caterpillar with Brown Hairs (White-marked Tussock moth caterpillar)

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White-marked tussock moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Melanie
The common name is - White-marked Tussock Moth according to bugguide.net, which is the most up-to-date taxonomic reference. It is also sometimes call the Rusty Vapor Moth, tho I have never heard that name used.
The scientific name is Orgyia leucostigma , which is the name use in journals and by scientists for this insect all over the world no matter what language is spoken.
Is that the answer you were looking for?
white tussock in peterborough ON
by: Melanie

I found one of these crawling up a tree at the Peterborough Zoo in July 2011. I thought it was cute and took a pic in blackberry. Just getting around to identifying it now. Is it formally called a White Tussock?
Found one!
by: Anonymous

Found one of these just this morning (8-25-11) on my van near Warsaw, Indiana. Very strange looking! My son took to school and showed his teacher. She found out it is a stinging variety so she sent it back home with him! He released it...
Found one yesterday!
by: Phyllis

strangest looking catepillar I've ever seen in Columbia, IL (metro St. Louis, MO area)
I found one!
by: Ann

I found this caterpillar on my trash can in Goshen, Indiana ( Northern Indiana) and we don't live near any woods at all. Neat looking little guy I have lived here all of my life and have never seen one like this before today.
White-marked Tussoks Caterpillar
by: Anonymous

I identified one of these on Manitoulin Island, Canada. It was in an area of deciduous trees.
I call it the "Punk Rock Caterpillar"
WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK MOTH
by: Moni

Anonymous
At this website are several pages of photos of the moth as well as the other stages of this insect.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/521/bgimage?from=0
White-Marked Tussock Moth Caterpillar
by: Anonymous

I too found one on July 2011 at our church in Central Minnesota. Any idea of what the moth looks like or how I could find out? Thanks
White Marked Tussock in Indpls, IN
by: Rick

A friend of mine took a photo of what looks like one of these with a little variation. I only saw the photo and can't tell if there is a brown streak running on the top of the back half or third of the catepillar, but everything else looks very similar.
White caterpillar here too
by: Anonymous

found one of these in my garden yesterday - Rochester New York
white-marked tussock
by: valerie

I just found on today in Baltimore City. I do live near some woods though.
SE NC
by: Anonymous

I saw a number of these in the Conservatory at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher.
We found one too! MN
by: Josh

We found one also, here in SE Minnesota, about 2 weeks ago. So neat to find a picture that was exactly as we found the little guy. Thanks so much for the identification!
Unusual caterpillar for Wisconsin
by: Anonymous

I just found one of these in my front yard in Western Wisconsin. Have never seen a caterpillar like this one. Just had to find out what it was. Great resource site.
white-marked tussock moth caterpillar
by: Laurin

What a great web site. We just found one of these on our deck in memphis. He is very gentle and quite cool to observe.
White-marked tussock moth caterpillar
by: Moni

A and JB
There are other tussock moth caterpillars that look like the white-marked tussock...closely related caterpillars are shown at this website. If you want to sent a photo perhaps we can help id closer if you wish.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/335/bgpage
A found caterpillar by: A and J B.
by: Anonymous

We found one of these caterpillars right on the top of our trash can right near the wasp nest outside. It looks just like yours only it has a darker gray body.
Thanks
by: Carol

Thanks for the info, Moni.
White-marked Tussock moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Carol
Your mystery caterpillar is a white-marked tussock. They are distinctively marked and are common in wooded areas of Eastern US. The caterpillars feed on a wide range of trees and shrubs(found one on my hibiscus a couple of weeks ago). The list of plants from David Wagner's book includes - birch, black locust, cherry, elm, hackberry, hickory, oak, rose, willow...fir, hemlock, larch, spruce and other conifers.
It overwinters in the egg stage. These eggs are laid in a froth-covered mass by wingless females.

It is a good thing to avoid the hair, it is known to cause allergic reactions, especially in areas of the body with sensitive skin like stomach, inner arms, etc.

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