He moves very slow and hung out on my sister's car all day. He seemed very content and would not leave. We didn't touch him because we didn't know what it was. A few neighbors don't know either. Help! I know the picture is poor quality, I took it on my phone. It was all I could get.
It's a Hag Moth caterpillar. Be careful, they sting.
http://insects.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=insects&cdn=education&tm=20&gps=490_431_1276_578&f=10&tt=33&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.ag.auburn.edu/enpl/bulletins/caterpillar/caterpillar.htm
After millions of google searches, thats something that did finally come up. But reading everything I saw 2 things struck me. They keep referring to them 1) as hairy.. this guy was like rustic orange and very sleek; 2) as 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch long full grown? I know he looks small in the picture but he is right at, if not slightly over an inch and a half. Those were the main reasons I moved away from the Hag Moth idea. Is this a fluke? Or am I making too much out of not knowing.
You got me there... the wikipedia article says 2.5 cm (about 1 inch) maximum... I don't know of any similar caterpillars, though. Anybody else ?
as with most google search images, at least one of these pictures is incorrect (the saddleback) but i'd say yours was a hag and yes, they sting. http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=hag+moth+caterpillar&gbv=2&aq=0&oq=hag+moth+&aqi=g1
I believe that claypa's i.d. is correct. If this isn't a monkey slug caterpillar (larva of a hag moth, Phobetron pithecium; Lepidoptera: Limacodidae) , then I don't have the faintest idea of what else it might be. To the best of my knowledge, there is no other caterpillar in North America, at least, that looks anything like this species.
