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Banded Tussock Moth+Video

Halysidota tessellaris

Photo by RiekoS
Published on Project Noah
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42.2695, -74.7268

Field Notes

Description:

Caterpillars are covered all over in long, hairlike setae, in tufts. These vary in colour from yellowish and orange to dark gray. Extra long 'hair pencils' of white, black, and/or orange occur at both the front and rear of the caterpillar. The head capsule is bright orange. In the north, mature caterpillars are found from July to frost (Wagner 2005). Caterpillars frequently rest on the upper surface of leaves, and though not gregarious, are very conspicuous (Wagner 2005). They grow to a length of 35 mm. - From Wikipedia

Notes:

I kept seeing this caterpillar, so I decided to make a video.
This is one of my best videos :-)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)

I could not get good pictures of the black brushed caterpillar, but I'm going by the photos that I have tomorrow. ;)
@Sckel: This caterpillar is very popular in my area now. They seem very aggressive and they almost run as you can see in my video. I would like to see your black brushed caterpillar :-)
Yesterday I found a black caterpillar with bristles like a toothbrush. It was a surprise, I had never seen this species in my backyard.

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