We just moved to the country (Sealy TX) and we have these every where. If you touch them they curl up into a ball (see next entry with pix with orange underside. They move fast and seem to eat dandelion and other weeds. I need to know in case they sting as I have a small dog out in the yard. Thanks
This is picture of underside
I raised one like that once and it turned out to be a Salt Marsh Moth; very pretty.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/images?l=3744
It's called a Wooly Bear Caterpillar. They are quite common and don't sting or cause irritation. Here's a link to see more about them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella
Thanks for the replies - I have them everywhere, but have left them alone. My current battle is with tomato hornworms and just plain problems growing anything. I've lived in the same place with such a big yard full of trees and it's been organic for so long that I'm having a hard time adapting to the prarie, but I will with time. A lot of learning this year for sure.
Gracie, I had the worst year for tomato hornworms last year that I've ever had. They turn into hummingbird moths, which I love, but they were wrecking havoc on every tomato on every plant I had. I finally got an organic remedy called Safer Caterpillar Killer that worked well. I found it at Lowe's in the organic gardening section, not with the other pesticides. Good luck, they're really voracious feeders and can wipe out a lot of tomatoes really quickly.
Crow
