Wild and Woolly

This is one hungry, little dust-mop! Look at how much of that leaf it’s already consumed. It is a Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar.

When I took this picture, I didn’t notice the interesting, synchronized curl to those orange and white tufts of hair. It just looked like your run-of-the-mill fuzzy caterpillar. Enlarging the image, often reveals surprising aspects of the insect world.

By the way, the head is that shiny black part on the edge of the leaf, mostly covered by hair.  (He needs to trim his bangs.)

This was actually in a very difficult spot to photograph due to other vegetation being in the way. To try and get a better shot, I slowly, gently bent the leaf he was on. They must not have sticky feet because, at the slightest angel, it immediately slid off the leaf and into the dense weeds below…never to be seen again.

To really see the detail of this creature, click on the photo and a larger version will open in a new browser tab.