Banded Woollybear : Pyrrharctia isabella
Yellow Woollybear : Spilosoma virginica and
Saltmarsh Caterpillar : Estigmene acrea
Lepidoptera: Arctiidae
Identification
• Woollybear caterpillars are up to 2" long and thickly covered with
long erect hairs.
• Banded woollybear larvae are covered with black hairs with a band
of red hairs in the middle. (a)
• Yellow woollybear larvae have light yellow hairs. (b)
• Saltmarsh caterpillars have reddish-brown hairs. (c)
• Moths have 1-21/2" wingspans and yellow and/or white wings with 1-2
or many black dots.
Damage
• Larvae eat leaf margins and entire leaves of the weed, lambsquarter,
and many vegetables and flowers including hollyhock, chrysanthemum, canna,
petunia, sunflower, rhubarb, cabbage, and bean. (d)
Management
• Most damage occurs very late in the summer when plants are done flowering
and producing crops. This damage can be ignored.
• Bacterial and other insecticides are effective.