Well, never ceases to amaze me when I am working out in the yard and find a new cat. Here's a photo of the little guy next to a wooly bear cat. And let me tell ya ..... he's a fast movin' cat. Had to chase him down. Never seen one move like this little fella. He was found eating my Gaura plant leaves. This is the best photo I could get of him. Anyone know what he might be?
Looks just like a smaller wooly bear. ? Maybe he doesn't have his winter coat yet. ;)
OHHHH
CUTE!
Paige - He is not a wooly bear. I wish my photo was sharper and showing more detail. The caterpillar that I found that looks a little like it is called the Tent Caterpillar. But instead of white stripes, this one has brownish-orange stripes that run horizontal along it's body.
Yeah, you can't see the stripes. It just looks like the Tussock moth cats do with rings of no hair. The Wooly Bear doesn't look like a cat in the pic either, just like a ball of fur. lol Maybe it is some sort of Tussock moth? As usual, you'll have to adopt it to see. Which could be an interesting project actually. How long do moth cats take in FL before they eclose??
The tent caterpillar is a bad one. Up north they form sacs with tons of them in each sac, hanging on trees and they destroy the trees.
Yes, Karen ..... I read that too about the tent cats. Though I don't see a nest sac anywhere in my yard or the neighbors. So perhaps it's not a tent cat at all. I'll just keep an eye on him outside. I find and check in on him once a day. He is in one of my container gardens. All by himself. Definitely has distinct markings. I will try to get a better photo when he gets a bit larger.
I have been seeing those cute Wooly Bears all over my yard. They are now much bigger and all black. I don't know where they go to morph. If they burrow into the ground, I don't know how they do it with that big furry coat they wear! Sure comes in handy now with the colder temps!!! I am finding them in my yard (in the grass and weeds) instead of on their host plant. So, whenever I find one, I pick it up and put it back on it's host plant. LOL! They are probably looking for a place to morph and are annoyed that I keep doing that. lol
This message was edited Feb 17, 2007 9:28 AM
Probably! Don't you know how FAR they've crawled and you keep returning them to the starting point! LOL! You'll have to try and remember to pay attention to if you are seeing a lot of the same moths in a few months.
Wow Becky!! What a hairy little fella!!
I was surphing around and found a page with lots of weird cats on it..
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/caterpillar_3.html
http://whatsthatbug.com/caterpillar.html
fourth from the bottom says it is a wooly bear of some sort.
Still looking...
Edited to say: Doesn't seem to be a wooly bear at all, see next post>>
This message was edited Feb 17, 2007 5:14 PM
Look at this one Beckaroo>>
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek020608.html
Giant Leopard Moth Cat
Deb - It could be a Giant Leopard Moth cat, but not sure. Similar coloring but the markings are a little different. I looked for the bugger today but couldn't find him. Sometimes he hides deep in the plant and it will be a day or two before I see him again. Maybe by then, he'll be bigger and I can photograph him again and post a better photo. We do have the Moths here. So it very well might be. There are just so many varieties of cats. I guess before I started gardening for cats, I never noticed them, but now I see them and keep coming across ones I don't recognize. There are just so many and they all look so different. I need a cat identifying book like they make for Bird Watchers. We need one called "Caterpllar Watchers Guide Book". LOL!
Here's a couple more places, Becky~
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg253.html
This url has 1, 2, 3, & 4th instar pics>
http://cse-ferg41.unl.edu/pub/leps/index.html?page=leopard
Deb
