I saw this insect, which I think is a worm, in my yard and I would like to know what it is. It is about 3/4 inches long but I've seen longer ones before (about 2 inches). It moves its body by bringing its back end up to its front, like a caterpillar. it's a little jiggly when it moves too. Its head is at the top of the picture, it can look quite confusing with a pair of antennae on its rear end. Does anyone have any idea what this insect is? Thanks P.S. I live in Jamaica.
This most likely is a caterpillar of a moth in the tribe Arctiini in the family Erebidae. There are at least 19 species in this tribe reported from Jamaica, but larval images are not available for most of them.
Thanks! I've always seen this strange insect but never knew what it was. I would also like to know if it is poisonous. Ever since I was young I would hear people say that they were poisonous, and if you touch them something serious would happen, is that true?
Some, but by no means all, caterpillars so decorated have specialized hairs that can cause an itching rash of varying severity. There is even one genus (Lonomia, in the family Saturniidae) in South America that has caused fatalities in humans.
