Sunday, October 2, 2011

Fuzzy Visitor

Fingered Dagger Moth Caterpillar
(Acronicta dactylina)

(5th instar larva)

I found this little guy walking through my rock garden.
Listed as uncommon but widely spread,
the Dagger Finger Moth,
as pictured below,

(Janice Stiefel/bugguide.com)
is found in deciduous and mixed wood forests 
in all of the U.S. and S. Canada.

Larva feed on willow, alder, birch, poplar and hawthorn,
overwintering as a pupa in leaves or debris.
Larvae are present from July to October.








6 comments:

Kjell T. Evensen said...

Those fuzzy guys tickle when they crawl up your arm, at least mine. :)

Out on the prairie said...

A funny looking little guy, think I have seen this moth recently.

Just Ramblin' said...

Seems like I once heart that fuzzy catepillars are a sign of a early and hard winter. Wonder if that is true with this little guy. Nola

Betty Manousos said...

glad to see those!
thanks for sharing. :)

betty
visiting via CC.

Tatjana Parkacheva said...

Very nice macro photos.

Regards and best wishes

ksdoolittle said...

Thank you all for your nice comments.