Meeting the Isabella Tiger Moth

My next three blog posts will be about things I’ve found in my yard. If you are observant and aware of your surroundings, you never know what you might see.

For example, have you ever found a fuzzy caterpillar with bands of black and reddish brown? They are nicknamed Woolly Bear caterpillars, and you will usually find them in the fall.

Some people think Woolly Bear caterpillars can predict what kind of winter we will have. They say that the longer the black band is, the more severe the winter will be. If the reddish-brown band is wide, it will be a mild winter.

Recently I discovered that the so-called Woolly Bear is actually called an Isabella Tiger Moth. If you’ve ever touched one of these, then you might have gotten a rash. Don’t worry, they are not venomous and won’t do any lasting damage to your skin.

You might have noticed that when you touch the Woolly Bear, they curl up into a ball or crawl away fast. This is a natural defense mechanism when they feel threatened.

The Isabella Tiger Moth lives in southern parts of Canada and the entire United States except for Hawaii and Alaska. (View a map here.) When you see them in under leaves or curled up, they are hibernating and almost appear dead.

In the spring, when they are preparing for their metamorphosis into moths, they spin a cocoon to protect themselves from the climate and predators. Their cocoons are made from their hairs and silk.

After they emerge from their cocoon as a moth, they can live for 1-2 weeks. They won’t venture far from where they made their cocoons. You will often see them feeding on nectar of flowers. They are orangish-brown with black spots on their wings.

Now that I know what they look like after metamorphosis, I’m going to keep an eye out for them in the spring.

Watch for my next blog post when I share about the Long-Toed Salamander.

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