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Wildlife Spotting

Photo by KarenL
Published on Project Noah
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36.2558, -87.0411

Field Notes

Description:

Some species of tiger moth caterpillar biting my finger - yes, that is my blood!

Habitat:

Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail

Notes:

One of my objectives for snake week is to get bitten by a nonvenomous snake - just to have the experience. I don't plan to harass one, but hope to find one (probably a watersnake) that will oblige. No luck today, just one very docile snake & a very dead one. However, I did meet this carnivorous caterpillar!

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (16)
KarenL
Hehe, it was actually pretty funny Eric. The photos aren't great because the light was poor, but it was a memorable experience!
antimatterhands
haha i had to try really hard not to throw a caterpillar when it bit me. good job
KarenL
Thanks for your concern guys! Really "blood" was a bit of an exaggeration, but it did break the skin & I had a little of the pink fluid that seeps from minor scrapes. No permanent harm done, & just a tiny red mark today! I guess it must have thought my figure was just a particularly tough stem!
Namitha
Thank you Emma, I checked the link. some years back I accidently caught it and got allergic rashes in my hand from touching the tufts. So now as we were discussing about the bite I was doubtful of what caused that allergic reaction. Thank you so much.
HemaShah
Namitha,you were right about the hairs delivering the toxins. Bite might not be bad. Here is a link for all. http://dermnetnz.org/arthropods/caterpillars.html
LisaPowers
To the best of my knowledge, they do not deliver a venomous bite. There are some that have venomous spines and their are some that are poisonous.
HemaShah
thanks for the great info ,Namitha.
Namitha
Thanks for the info Emma. But i meant the bite. The allergic reaction is the one caused when we touch the hairy tuft on its body. [maybe its my misconception ]
HemaShah
I had allergic reactions and had to pull out the hairs from my hand one by one.
Namitha
Are their bites poisonous in some way ?
HemaShah
I ended up with a swollen hand though. Cute monster.
DST
Man it must have been very hungry
LisaPowers
Hahaha....now you are going to contract some extremely rare and bizarre disease carried by this one species of caterpillar. If you start sprouting long, bristly hairs and craving nothing but salad, I'm calling the CDC.
HemaShah
I have been bitten by caterpillars!
Namitha
Wow I did not know caterpillars could bite and make a cut. And also when you try to get bitten by a nonvenomous snake make sure you don't get bitten by a venomous one. Also, one more thing, is it okay to add fossil spottings in PN.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Butterflies & Moths of the World
Mission
Moths of the World
Mission
Caterpillars and larvae of the World
Mission
Insects of TN
Mission
Butterflies and Moths of Southeast USA
Photographed
PublishedSeptember 20, 2012

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