As I was walking on the Little Miami Trail earlier this week, I saw this fuzzy yellow caterpillar with black tufts hustling across the pavement. I knew what it was right away--a young American Dagger Moth Caterpillar. The early instars of this caterpillar are bright yellow like this one, but the later instars get paler and paler, until they can be almost white. American Dagger Moth caterpillars are so fuzzy, cute and cuddly you just want to pick them up and let them crawl on you...but don't! I know this from experience. When Matty was about 2 years old, we were on the back deck when a big, beautiful white Dagger Moth caterpillar crawled in his path. He let the caterpillar climb up his arm and on his leg, and he was laughing...and loving the little thing, but I wasn't too keen on it, so I walked Matty to a tree and let the caterpillar climb onto a leaf. Good thing I did because wherever those fuzzy little hairs had touched his delicate baby skin a huge red welt appeared. I can't remember if the welts appeared within hours or the next day, but when I took him to the pediatrician, she knew right away what had happened to him. "
Has Matty been playing with a fuzzy white or yellow caterpillar?" D'oh! When I got home, I looked up the caterpillar and learned all about him. A week later, an article appeared in the newspaper advising people to beware the cute, fuzzy white caterpillars roaming about. A week too late for us, but we always do tend to learn things the hard way...
A young American Dagger Moth Caterpillar (Acronicta americana) looking dapper in his bright yellow and black bristly hairs (setae).
...he is soft, he is fuzzy, but don't touch! Those silky looking hairs and tufts can leave stinging welts!
The American Dagger Moth caterpillar doesn't sting like a wasp or bee. It doesn't have a stinger at all. The fuzzy hairs (setae) are hollow, and when they touch the skin, they break away releasing toxins from poison glands to which they are attached. (Click here for details on "stinging" caterpillars.)
The toxin-wielding setae make me think of deadly little straws...like something out of James Bond...sort of. It's not like these caterpillars are "attack" caterpillars. They don't release their toxins on purpose. The toxins just spill out when the hair is broken.
...not all species of dagger moths have "stinging" setae or spines, but do you want to risk it? :-) Move along little caterpillar. Hope to see you again some day as a moth!
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110 comments:
Interesting! I've seen plenty of these around, but I've never picked any up. Now I'm glad I didn't!
Wow quite an interesting funny looking creatures.... What a funny hear style!!! Good pictures of a funny creature!
Glad to never have tried one for bait,I seem to react big to insect stings.Sometimes when I trout fish I have tried recent hatch that are around.Nice macro and post.I was on Lake Miami today here in Iowa.
What a fuzzyy little creature.
Such a fascinating combination of cute and toxic!
Love the captures even if I don't get to play with the cute little bug!
Wow, I had never heard of such a thing! We obviously don't have them here that I know of. He sure is pretty though.
I like to see these but am half afraid to touch them. I don't know if mother said not to pick them up or not but must have.
Beautiful. I've never seen one around here. I think I'll stick with my woolly bear caterpillars.
Now I know...not to even think of touching these caterpillars!
Funky looking little critter! Your pics are incredible!
Love that you led Mattie to a tree so the caterpillar could escape (sort of like the Zen of mothering)..I've seen them here too, but never picked one up.
Well for goodness sakes, I have never seen anything quite like that... Isn't he 'purdy'?????? Glad you saw that one... It's definitely new to me... So pretty!!!!
Thanks, Kelly.
Hugs,
Betsy
I love seeing these, but I'm always wary, too. I love that when you look at them close up, you notice that their skin is actually bright green. Very colorful!
He is so cute and unusual looking!!!!
"Move Along, Little Caterpillar" Sounds like a title of a book. Such an amazing yellow - great photo captures.
Very interesting..I certainly will remember not to touch that one!
Beautiful but dangerous. Interesting post!
It does have that, "Touch me if you dare' look about it Kelly.
Now that my internet is a bit faster I really need to stop here more often Kelly! Your photos are fantastic and paintings just beautiful! Thanks for stopping by my place again!
A real beauty Kelly.
It does look cute though Kelly. :-)
Love Love Love this post and photos. Carol
This guy is new to me. He's very pretty even though he's an untouchable.
love love love caterpillar photos! As wildlife biologists we have really grown to appreciate the art of capturing wildlife via photo- thanks for sharing and excited to have run across your blog to follow :)
I got stung by one of these in northern Michigan once. It fell onto my tee shirt sleeve from a tree and crawled onto the inside of my elbow without my knowledge. The next time I bent my arm, OUCH! My arm swelled to twice its size and my stomach was covered with hives for about a day. That was an exceptionally severe case, but none the less these things are not to be trifled with.
I saw a pair of these today and wondered what kind of caterpillar. When I tried to pick up the first one it didn't curl like others it actually went into defense mode like it was going to bite me. So I picked it up with a stick and moved it off of the sidewalk so it wouldn't get stepped on...now I'm curious to see what it will look like when it grows up.
One of these guys got in my shirt somehow. My wife got it out, but all day I felt a prickly irritating feeling in my shirt. The next day my back was covered in welts. I have hundreds of them and they are horribly itchy! I would stay away from this cute little guy!!!
Thank you for making this site i knew they was dangerous but wasn't sure how bad my wife and i live in east Tennessee in blount county and have seen quite a few of them lately
Thanks to your photo, was able to identify the caterpillar I saw today on a beach trail in Greenwich, CT.
was not in my guide, Caterpillars of Eastern North America, so my thanks!
did not try to touch, since it looks like this one makes an effort to discourage interference!
Thanks to your photo, was able to identify the caterpillar I saw this morning on a beach trail in Greenwich CT. Did not touch, since it looks like this one works hard to discourage interference!
The kids and I saw an American Dagger Moth caterpillar on the sidewalk in Chicago a few days ago.
The kids and I saw an American Dagger Moth caterpillar on a sidewalk in Chicago a few days ago.
One of these was crawling on my ankle at a cookout last night. Today it looks like I got 50 mosquito bites where it was. Guess I didn't flick it off in time.
One of these was crawling on my ankle at a cookout last night. Today it looks like I got 50 mosquito bites where it was. Guess I didn't flick it off in time.
One of these was crawling on my ankle at a cookout last night. Today it looks like I got 50 mosquito bites where it was. Guess I didn't flick it off in time.
Saw one of these furry guys on my door frame yesterday, and for some reason I decided just to let it go on it's way after photographing it. I had thought about moving it to a tree, bur decided he would know better how to get to where he wanted to go. Now I'm glad I didn't pick him up! Nature and intuition know best!
Cute! We learned the hard way when grandpa found this cute little guy and gave it to my 6 and 4 year old. They also ended up with red spots.
Cute! We learned the hard way when grandpa found this cute little guy and gave it to my 6 and 4 year old. They also ended up with red spots.
Thanks kids almost played with it told.them to wait till I found out what it was.thank u again
Found 3 of these by our front door today. I was going to let my son pick them up and just move them into a tree. Something told me to look it up first and thank goodness I did! We immediately just used long twigs to relocate the trio to a tree.
I recently had one of these caterpillars fall from a tree crawl up my sleeve and grabbed it from inside my collar. My arm and neck have severe hives and is still itchy as a mofo.That was a week ago still breaking out. I've tried Calamine lotion daily and has little effect. DO NOT HANDLE THESE CATERPILLARS AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!
I had the same thing happen to me, it dropped frome a tree onto my sleeve crawled up my shirt onto my collar. That was a week ago still have hive like welts all over my arm and chest area. Calamine lotion has little effect on these hives. Very unpleasant feeling STAY AWAY FROM THESE FUZZY CREATURES!!!!!!!!!
Ran into a couple of these fuzzy little friends, they had no effect on me. Did not realize they were poisonous until now. Thanks for this info.
I live in TN and saw something like this in my garden except it only had one pair of black hairs on its back instead of two. Other than that it looked exactly like the one in the picture. I suspected it was poisonous and I'm glad no one in my family touched it.
I just saw one in my backyard
I just saw one in my backyard
Shit one crawled on me!!!
My sister brought one home... everyone held and played with it before we googled what species it was... Tomorrow will be fun... :'D
I have seen a quite a few of these recently… I suspect I learned with the first one why they have such a defense, as it was being attacked by wasps. Glad I decided to save my cat from one that was about to crawl on her this morning!
I live in Colorado. These are every where in my yard. Each day we count how many and its always over 10. They range from smaller than half an inch to two inches long. They all seem to be headed towards some trees in the middle of my apartment complex. Like others unfortunately my daughter and I did touch some. No Welts or what not but spots on my hands are itchy. They are just every where though. Hope they get where they are going fast.
I live in Colorado Springs and we located an area where we believe is a possible hoard (from a hole in the ground beneath a aspen tree. We caught two of them, cute and fuzzy Fraggle Rock teddy bear looking greenish yellow with cute little fuzzy black spikes.
To clear up one misconception; you are only likely to get a mild skin irritation if you handled several at a time and if you actually rubbed it directly. In other words, holding just one little fuzzy is fine as long as you only let it walk on your palm, not petting the poor guy! When a caterpillar feels threatened it will ball up, or freeze in its place playing dead if it gets frightened or is attacked.
I read that most American Dagger Moth Caterpillars live among forests and trees only. But this brood of babies are located in an oddly very rocky adry area where there are mostly spruce and aspen trees. Yet this amazing species has adapted to living in what would seem like not an ideal location for a hoard of caterpillars! How amazing is nature!
...Thanks, Tiffanie! Very cool! ...not everyone will show a welt, but wherever the caterpillar crawled on my son's skin (he was very young), welts popped up. It was horrible. They did not pop up on his palms and fingers, just the skin up his arm and on his leg where he let it crawl. The doctor said she sees the painful welts on children all autumn from American Dagger Moths. It is wherever the fuzzy hairs (setae) touch the skin, they break away releasing toxins that cause the welts.
On 9/17/2015, I saw one of the "cute" critters just about to crawl under my door. I almost stepped on it. I learned when I was a kid, DON'T TOUCH ANY THING ! I saw the black stingers and knew right away, DO NOT TOUCH but wasn’t aware that just a touch/brush against could set things off. So I took a small rake, let it crawl up, then took it about 50 yards away from my house and tossed it across the road. I do have a roommate that thinks anything "cute and fuzzy" he should play with. He has SEVERE ASTHMA and SEVERE ALLERGIES !
I have never seen one of these "critters" in the south that I can recall.
This article was/is a true life safer !
I saw on in my front yard... .I didn't touch it and I'm glad I didn't touch it! :)
I saw on in my front yard... .I didn't touch it and I'm glad I didn't touch it! :)
I just found one in my house and looked it up. Glad I used a flip flop to get it out
I just found one in my house and looked it up. Glad I used a flip flop to get it out
I had one crawling on my shoulder and happened to look him up because my skin became itchy.I washed it good lets see how this goes
I just came in contact with one crawling on my shoulder I happened to look him up because my skin became itchy.I washed real good but still itchy.let's see if it goes away
Just saw one in bradford vt. Never seen one before. Been in the nh vt area fo 49 years. Is this invasive or elusive?
Just saw one in bradford vt. Never seen one before. Been in the nh vt area fo 49 years. Is this invasive or elusive?
Just seen one of these in front of our home. Thanks to the info you've provided here, we chose not to kill it. ��
We just seen one of these in front of our home today, & thanks to the info you provided, we decided to let him move on..😊
I have one I don't touch it but it's really pretty to look at
Tofte, MN- along Lake Superior found one yesterday scaling the rocks along the shore. I held it without a problem...of course joking with my friends that I doubted it was poisonous! I had never seen one before.
Now I know!
Tofte, MN- along Lake Superior found one yesterday scaling the rocks along the shore. I held it without a problem...of course joking with my friends that I doubted it was poisonous! I had never seen one before.
Now I know!
I've seen a lot of these in Southern New Jersey and also Long Island New York but they are white with black bristles. I've handled them and had them walk up and down my arms and it never bothered me. I don't actually pet them or touch their bristles, I just let them walk on me or pick them up gently. I had heard they were poisonous but I guess I have tough skin... I guess with kids it's best to be careful and have them move them with a stick.
I saw one of these day before yesterday. My little Yorkie, Lucky, took a sniff and then snorted and left the it alone after that. They are quite beautiful. I found your blog while looking the wooly worm up to see what he was. Yesterday we saw him again curled up in a hole in the gravel of our walkway. There is not much activity on our side walkway so I guess he figured he was safe there. We left him be. Thanks for sharing your experience with the wooly worm and telling us what he was. Great pictures too. We live in west central Illinois. Near the Mississippi River.
Southeast Michigan here,
My Daughters (4 and 6) found one of these in our garage, the youngest not liking bugs... which she comes by honestly, asked me to look it up as she and even I from initial pictures I found thought the black hails were spikes or stingers
Glad I found your site, Carefully scooped the little guy into a plastic container, let the kids have a look then released it into a near by tree.
Ohhhhhh my goodness. My husband was outside this morning getting our in ground pool ready for the winter and this goober fell down from the tree and down hubby's shirt and released a ton of his hairs in his chicken wing area and he's NOT a happy camper at the moment. He has allergies and he's swelling up pretty bad so I felt I needed to look this guy up. FOUND YOU!!! Well off to the ER we go. Good luck everyone
Ohhhhhh my goodness. My husband was outside this morning getting our in ground pool ready for the winter and this goober fell down from the tree and down hubby's shirt and released a ton of his hairs in his chicken wing area and he's NOT a happy camper at the moment. He has allergies and he's swelling up pretty bad so I felt I needed to look this guy up. FOUND YOU!!! Well off to the ER we go. Good luck everyone
I just saw one in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania & I also had never seen one before. A cousin of mine shared a picture of one that she saw in New Jersey a few days ago. Such cool creatures!
Just saw one tonight in Minneapolis in my front yard. It was crawling in the wood chips in my flower garden
Oops! Saw this cute guy on our sidewalk and, wanting to show our bug-phobic kids that there's nothing to be afraid of, I pet him quite a bit... no redness or pain so far thank goodness. We made him a mason jar home with some grass and leaves (and air holes!). Anyone know more about what he (or she) eats, when he'll make a cocoon, etc?
My kid just brought one in to our house, we have a butterfly house we put him in to see if he cacoons... watching our 5 year old close tonight! He blows up from a simple mosquito bite... his birthday party tomorrow... not good timing
Got bitten by one on the back of the neck today while leaning against an oak tree in MA. Burning itch!
I saw one in Newton, Massachusetts today --Oct 1, 2017 --near the Charles River. I had no idea what it was. Glad I didn't touch it!
We've had our American Dagger on our front porch for a little over a week. First thing this morning I go and check on him and he looks as beautiful as ever. Then around 5-6pm I go to check on him and I think he's dying. He has a green ball hanging out his bottom and he either looks to be writhing in pain or trying to get it off of him. I don't know which, but what I've found online (one thing) talks about signs of death for a butterfly, and one of the things describes the same thing as what's going on with our little guy. I'm sad, but my daughter is shattered. She even named him Roger.
Just found one in my pool about 2 and a half inches long. .poor lil guy was dead but I'm glad I didn't touch him..
Ps... I live in southern NH
Just found one in my pool about 2 and a half inches long. .poor lil guy was dead but I'm glad I didn't touch him..
my friends found one on a tree and and i told them not to touch it, glad they didnt
Are pets/dogs at risk from any reactions??
Are pets/dogs at risk from any reactions??
I have a rash up and down my neck and shoulder due to one falling on me.
"I'm Fine"
I just had one crawl up my sleeve, it's been a week and still itchy, prickly and welts
Had one yesterday picked it up amd now hand is itching like crazy shoukdnt have touched it lol good thing i know now.
I seen one in a kids bathroom that was at a school
I found one picked it up, played with it a few times I thought it was a calippiler LMAO so I kept it and raised it. I never had any type of reaction to it. Then it went into a weird cocoon after a week of me playing with it and feeding it. Then it hatched 3 weeks later and didn't look like a butterfly �� I released it the next day and it flew away.
Found one in my yard in NC. Picked it up in a jar and put it on a nearby butterfly bush. Knew enough not to touch it with my hands.
I just saw one it the garden, and looked it up and find this article.
Helped me to deal with it.
Montreal, Canada
Well my boys found on on the tree my 3 year old touched the yellow bugger with his figner hoping he doesn't get a reaction we put in in a mason jar with some sticks and leaves to watch him turn to a butterfly he is already cacooned at the bottom of jar..I really hope there is no reaction from him poking him
Just found one attach to my skirt!
I just saw one and i looked just like the picture and I love caterpillar’s but I like to make sure they are not poisonous Before I touch them.🙂
We just found one yesterday on a pillar of our house in cleveland,ohio. This morning i found it with a web like thing around it only to notoce later on it was its own fur i had already read up on it and got a little place for him. With a branch and so he is i think cacooning.. What do i do next????
Yup just got hit by one today this sucks
The injury from this little beauty can be quite nasty. I ended up having to use antibiotic cream and refreshing it 3 times day. Now I am nervous to garden at all:(
Just saw one on my front step in no. Never so them before either.
We have one in our backyard. I warned my mom not to touch it.
Just saw one on my deck here in Stokes County, NC, just north of Winston-Salem. Even my dog -- who normally goes after anything that moves -- knew NOT to tangle with this guy!
I agree! I didn't know these critters we're here in the South until I saw one on my deck. But what I saw *exactly* matches the pics on all the sites describing the Dragon Caterpillar. Including this site!
I'm in North Carolina. The state extension site does not list Yellow Daggers among NC stinging caterpillars. But I know what I saw! And yes, I got pictures, too.
My kids and I have been gently holding these for weeks with no reaction.....maybe we were just so gentle they weren't scared?
Most people do not have any adverse reaction to these caterpillars unless the caterpillar hairs get trapped between their clothes and skin.
Just had one on my neck thought it was my shirt tag what to do now all over the back of my neck and my hand
We found a Dagger Moth in our front yard here in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, It is August 1st. 2020. we took photo's. Educating our 2 and 5 year old on some of the many "Do Not Touch" critters here in NC. This one is a new one for me locally here. I have seen them in our states mountainous region never this far east and at this altitude. I remembered from my parents teaching me that any insect with distinct defense coloration, protruding spines, and interesting behaviors when agitated. Etc. Blister Beetles for instance, roll over on their back before chemical attack. Their acid attack is very painful and leaves large blisters and boils on your skin. I had the misfortune of having one become a bed fellow in my sleeping bag on a camping trip. I was alone and couldn't figure out why I had all these large painful blisters on the left side of my rib cage. I thought spider. I found the little slender black beetle after removing sleeping bag and inspecting. Enough said, travel far, stay alert, and keep a keen eye for the little things that can pack a punch.
I let one of these walk around on my hands and arm today. I guess since it walked up my arm I never brushed against the black hairs? Anyway, I guess we were lucky. No stings.
I searched up Georgia caterpillars when I saw this guy, glad I did because my dog had his eye on it.
I picked one up with my bare hands, 6 hours ago in St. Paul,MN, and moved it away from the street and traffic. No adverse reaction -- yet.
My dog just found one of these in our yard luckily I got it out of her reach before anything happened. Joann in Mount Holly, NJ
strange to hear it being called amarican coming from a canadian that collected one lol fasinating little bugger though
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