I found this fellow crawling on the wall of the house. He is exactly 5 cm (2") from the antenna tip to the top of the tail. The head which is barely showing here is a bright red/orange. Found in Colima, MX.
Do we know what this is?
It's a caterpillar of a tussock moth in the genus Orgyia, it looks a lot like the fir tussock moth - http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/URBAN/MEDICAL/tussock_moths01.jpg
What is it doing in southwestern Mexico?
There are several species in the genus Orgyia that can occur in Mexico (http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/noctuoidea/lymantriidae/orgyia/index.html#antiqua).
I just said that your specimen looked like a fir tussock moth; I did not identify it as such - my apologies for any confusion...
Thank you for the website. I found 5 species known to be in Mexico. When i searched Orgyia in Mexico, I received lots of hits for Orgyia but "Mexico" was crossed out. I didn't look at all the pages though, but Orgyia Mexico should have been among the first sites referenced. At any rate, i have 5 species to look at and maybe one of them is my bug. I didn't pay attention to the "fir tussock moth", and only searched "Orgyia in Mexico...seems like there should have been something there. Thanks again.
Post a Reply to this Thread
More Insect and Spider Identification Threads
-
Do we know what this is?
started by klego
last post by klegoApr 17, 20255Apr 17, 2025 -
Do we know what this is?
started by ivk
last post by ivkApr 23, 20252Apr 23, 2025 -
Do we know what this is?
started by ivk
last post by ivkApr 23, 20252Apr 23, 2025 -
Do we know what this is?
started by emblue
last post by emblueApr 24, 20253Apr 24, 2025 -
Do we know what this is?
started by PitterCol
last post by PitterColApr 30, 20252Apr 30, 2025