The Orange Caterpillar

Here is picture of the cute little caterpillar that the children brought to show me. They were so excited they wanted to know what type it was.

As you can see from the photo this is clearly an orange caterpillar. However, if you do a search for orange caterpillar you will not come up with much. Finally, I figured out that this is a yellow bear caterpillar, Virginian Tiger Moth and Spilosoma virginica.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website "the Spilosoma virginica, or the yellow woollyworm in the moth family Arctiidae, represents a commonly seen group of organisms. The red and black banded woollybear caterpillar seen in the fall has been said to predict winter severity depending on the width of the caterpillar's red and black bands. The "woolly" appearance of members of this family is due to the presence of large amounts of hair or setae found covering the body.

Plant Host(s): Many aquatic and terrestrial plants, Waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Waterlettuce (Pistia stratiotes)

Description: Adults of Spilosoma virginica are pure white with minimal numbers of darker spots on the wings and a row of yellow spots on the abdomen. The adult holds its wings tent-like over the body at rest. The adult moth is relatively hairy with numerous scales covering the body.

Eggs of this species are typically laid on the leaves in single-layered masses. Each mass may contain from 20 to more than 100 eggs.

The newly emerged larvae tend to group together, but as they become more mature they become more solitary. They range in color from white to yellow to brown or yellowish brown. Younger larvae are typically lighter with more mature instars becoming progressively darker.

The pupae form on the leaves and are held within a slight cocoon made from silk and shed body hairs. The pupa is dark and relatively stout.

Feeding Damage: The larvae tend to feed on the leaves of many aquatic plants including waterhyacinth and waterlettuce. The larvae remove large pieces of the leaves, leaving fairly distinct and large holes. High populations may reduce the growth of the attacked plant but rarely kill the plant."
 
Amazingly enough this is the only information that I could find on these little guys on the internet. There are pictures all over the place but no other site with information about them. They are either very rare (not in our area) or they are so common that no one has given them much thought.