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Ornamentals and Turf |
Last week there were two incidents with stinging caterpillars. Some of the stinging caterpillars are called slug caterpillars because their prolegs lack the tiny hooks most other caterpillars have and the prolegs are so short that some of the slug caterpillars resemble slugs. Several species of slug caterpillars have stinging hairs (saddleback caterpillar, hag moth caterpillar and stinging rose caterpillar) that can inflict a quite painful sting.
Some people are very sensitive to such episodes and may require professional medical treatment. Slug caterpillars overwinter in tough silk cocoons. Moths emerge the following spring and summer and lay flat eggs on leaves of various trees and shrubs. Puss caterpillars are one of the stinging caterpillars in the family of flannel moths. They produce a very painful sting when brushed against (brushing against the caterpillar breaks tiny hollow spines which are filled with an urticating fluid which produces the painful stinging sensation which may last several hours). Swelling associated with the sting may be evident for several days). The adult is a lovely brown moth with fluffy wings called a flannel moth. Puss caterpillars feed on various deciduous trees and shrubs, especially oak, elm, hackberry, maple, and sycamore. The moths, called flannel moths, are yellow-brown in color and have fluffy, wavy, white hairs. The young larvae sometimes feed in groups on the surface of the leaf. Older larvae devour the entire leaf. The caterpillars finally spin a dense cocoon in which it spends the winter. Puss caterpillars are usually not abundant enough to be noticed, although rare outbreaks may be widespread and may cause defoliation.
Two generations of these insects probably occur each year, and the winter is spent in the cocoon spun some place on the host tree. There are usually no more than one or two found at a time, so if desired they may be destroyed with a stick. Such caterpillars should also be sensitive to any of the pesticides listed in Ornamentals and Turf Insect Note No. 7.
Employment and program opportunities are offered to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.
Last modified on September 16, 2002 by Stephen J. Toth, Jr.
