These buggars are bad! I got online and read about them. They are Saddleback caterpillars, and the stings can be dangerous. The best you can do is treat them like other insect stings. These guys come out in late summer/early fall. They range from Florida to Texas, up north as far as Massachusetts. Yup, I'm smack dab in the middle of that range, lol. Funny, I haven't seen them before. I guess they like fruit trees, although I found these on a maple. They hide on the undersides of leaves, so they'll catch you unaware when you are gardening. Watch out for them!
8 comments:
I've never seen anything like them. They look cool!
OMG... I know about those guys! I watched one eat my rosebush one summer! He was so beautiful and I was so mesmerized by him! One day I went out to check on him and his progress... and I accidentally stepped on him... barefoot! I ended up in the ER.
Horrible little creatures. But oh so pretty!
I love your photos of them. And you have a bunch to worry about. I only had one!
My brother says that you should "look out" for anything that is brightly colored. That is God's way of warning us that it is dangerous. But then dull colored things are dangerous too... so...?
Amazing creatures! I wonder if they are attracted to anything like slugs are to beer? Did you find a way to entice them off the tree?
I have never seen anything like these, and you'd think that we would have them in Va!
I'd be afraid they'll demolish your maples. You need all the shade trees you can get too.
Gretchen:
I can't for the life of me remember how I found your blog but I've been reading for a few years (wow!)...
Anyway, I was just at our local nature center in a state park THIS AFTERNOON and happened to be leafing through a book about butterflies and saw a picture of this very caterpillar. I thought it looked so cool and was facinated by it's stinging barbs.
Isn't that just...freaky?!?!?!
Oh, UGH! Am I the only one who thinks these things are gross? OK, they're pretty interesting, but as soon as I read they were dangerous - the ER???? - my fascination ended. How many do you think there are on your tree/in your yard?
I hope your kids don't find any more by accident!
YIKES! Stinging caterpillars!
Never seen them before. They're very interesting-looking.
Bizarre! I've never seen those before -- they don't even look real. Do they turn into butterflies? Probabaly pretty ones if they do.
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