Who is munching on my hibiscus?

Any ideas?

Awww. This is a tussock moth caterpillar (family Lymantriidae). It is most likely a species called Orgyia detrita, because it has yellowish-orange tufts on the back. It is related to and often flies with the white marked tussock moth, Orgyia leucostigma, which has a caterpillar with more yellowish sides on either side of the middle black stripe. It also has red tufts instead of orangey ones going down the middle of the middle balck stripe.

I find them cute, and unless it has many friends, I doubt that it will eat much. It can, however, be irritating to softer skin (like the inside of your arms) on some people. So if picking it up, I'd treat it like a tarantula and only let it crawl on your hands or clothing, just in case.

Edited because caterpillars don't fly - hee.

This message was edited Apr 23, 2006 5:13 AM

Thanks! will have to look that one up; none of my butterfly books have much info on moths.
FYI, it was a loner and I simply removed the leaf/caterpillar from the hibiscus on my deck and relocated it an area where I have many host plants. Hopefully it will find something it has a taste for.
It is a cute one; it's black antennae reminded me of a handlebar mustache and the brown "hair" on it's tail end looked like real (human) hair.

ardesia - well if it is similar to the white marked tussock moth I mentioned, then it should be fine, because they have a very wide host range of plants that they will eat.

As I was going outside late this evening, I saw a tussock moth similar to yours - either the same species or the white marked one - on my Clematis. I hope it is still there in the morning so I can get a decent picture of it and see if it's the same as yours.

And the information I was got from the new edition of the Princeton Field Guides "Caterpillars of Eastern North America" by David Wagner. I'm not sure how much it is normally, because I got mine from the author (I work in Entomology), and it was $20 I believe. There are some good caterpillar identification websites on the internet though. I have the links at work and will add some here for you later.

Oh and I should have clarified in my first post here that the MOTHS fly together - not the caterpillars - hee. The moths in both cases are somewhat drab brown (though they do have cool feathery antennae), an unusual case where the caterpillars are more interesting than the moths.

Oh wow, info from the expert - thanks!!!!! I was able to determine that their usual diet consists of oak leaves and I have plenty of Live Oaks in the area where I left the little guy (or gal). The abundance of oaks is probably the reason it was here to start with.

I have several very good butterfly books but none on caterpillars; I'll have to look for that Princeton Guide.