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White fuzzy caterpillar (Salt Marsh Moth Caterpillar)

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SALT MARSH MOTH CATERPILLAR
by: Moni

Anonymous - Yellow
If it is one of these caterpillars then it will turn in to a moth.
Photos here - http://bugguide.net/node/view/3242
yellow
by: Anonymous

i found one just like this but yellow with no distinct markings or other colors anywhere on its body, its just yellow and fuzzy. will it turn into a butterfly?
Annoyed!
by: Anonymous

These little guys are destroying my shrubs! I am a first time home owner and landscaper and have been enjoying my flowers and shrubs all summer until now..I found a few the other day..removed them and got rid of them. Now they are back! They are all over my spirea shrubs. Anyone know of a good way to get rid of them?
Tiger moth caterpillars
by: Moni

Anonymous
Tiger moth caterpillars are not dangerous nor poisonous.
There are other caterpillars that can leave a rash or stinging on the skin. Here is a website that covers most of those... http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef003.asp
white caterpillars-dangerous?
by: Anonymous

are they poisonous or dangerous to children
Salt marsh or Virginian tiger caterpillar
by: Moni

Karen
Let us know which one you have!?!
Same Caterpillar Here!
by: Karen Brittan

I just found this same caterpillar on a new yarrow plant I purchased a couple days ago. I live in Minnesota, 30 miles north of the TC in Zone 3. I am in the process of trying to identify it.
The ate my sunflowers!!!!!!!!!!!!
by: sunflower mourner

I have to say that I have had an incredible negative experience with this particular type of caterpillar. I am growing sunflowers from see, which are about two feet tall now. Something starting eating the living heck out of the leaves. I looked on the underside of the leaves, and bunched together in groups of 3-5 were these tiger moth caterpillars. They LOVE to eat sunflowers and I suspect a lot more. If you don't want to kill them (I did), then consider removing them by hand and keeping them as pets until they transform.
Pest in the pond
by: Anonymous

This caterpillar has definitely enjoyed devouring my water lilies... I consider it a pond pest!
Virginian tiger moth caterpillar
by: Moni

Pond owners
The hairs on this caterpillar should not cause itching, but if you have very sensitive skin, it perhaps may be possible.

This caterpillar is not considered a pest and they may float on water with all of the hairs but they do not swim. The moth laid the eggs on the water lily and the caterpillar then fed on what it was given to eat. They do feed on plant foliage, but do not come in such large numbers to be considered a garden pest.
Sorry they were eating your water lilies.
Pests
by: Pond owners

We found a couple of these catapillars in our pond, THEY CAN SWIM!!! They were eating our lily pads, so we killed most of them with a block of wood. Don't let it out of the jar!!!
Virginian Tiger Moth Caterpillar
by: Anonymous

This is definitely a Virginian Tiger Moth Caterpillar. I found a couple of these in my backyard. I asked my neighbor (he is an expert) and he said they were Virginian Tiger Moth caterpillars.
Virginian Tiger Moth
by: Moni

Grace
Great!
The moths help a lot to identify caterpillars. With only one photo, white fuzzy caterpillars in the Arctiidae family can be challenging to positively ID. I do make mistakes! :-) Thanks for the detective work with the life cycles. The life cycles are fascinating to follow.

You might enjoy this website on life cycles...it is a great asset to learn what all stages of these insects look like. It is a great help for identifying what we find. Also, it is a wonderful educational tool for learning what the food source and what conditions are needed to develop each stage for the various insects. Many are still not known.

http://www.buglifecycle.com/?page_id=110
White Virginian Tiger Moth
by: Grace

Moni,

Thanks for taking time to answer. In searching further on the Internet and comparing the newly developed moth I found, the White Virginian Tiger Moth seems a better match. The reason being: the caterpillar hairs on the Salt March caterpillar are bunched together with space between whereas this and the White Virginian Tiger Moth caterpillar hairs seem more evenly spaced. The wings on my moth didn’t have all the black spots that were on the Salt March one. It resembled the White Virginian Tiger Moth pictured on different sites. Since the White Virginian Tiger Moth caterpillars were reported to eat mostly grasses and weeds, I have let it go after taking a number of beautiful pictures.
Nice pictures of the White Virginian Tiger caterpillar & moth on this site: http://bugguide.net/node/view/498/bgimage
Salt marsh caterpillar
by: Moni

Alyssa
Yes, these are found all thru out North America, except Alaska and Yukon.
Minnesota
by: Alyssa

I found a caterpillar who looks just like this on a beet plant in my dad's garden. Can these live in minnesota?
Salt Marsh Moth Caterpillar
by: Moni

Grace
Your caterpillar is a Salt March moth caterpillar. They turn into white with black dotted moths with orange abdomens.
The caterpillars are various colors - whitish to brown to black, with long bristly hairs. Larvae feed on many mostly weedy plants including pigweed, ground cherry and mallow, plus crops such as alfalfa, asparagus, bean, beet, cabbage, carrot, celery, clover, corn, cotton, lettuce, onion, pea, potato, soybean, tobacco, tomato, and turnip.
They are not considered a pest. So feel free to let it go once you have seen the moth. The male moths have colored hind wings while the female hind wings are usually white.
Here is more information and photos if you want to know more.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/3242

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