Subject: Peculiar caterpillars....

From: [email-masked] (Angela14)
Date: 12 Aug 1995 21:02:51 -0400

I have yet another identifying problem.  Tonight on my Black Walnut tree I
found a number of larva feeding on a single leaf.  There are about thirty
of them, averaging a little over a half inch long and a little over 1/16
inch wide.  They are entirely maroon, darker on the last segment, with
dark heads.  They appear naked, but upon careful inspection I can see
whispy white hairs sticking out of them, and several longer ones near the
head.  The peculiar thing is that when resting they hold all the segments
immediately following their last pair of legs vertical to their body --
they are held at a lesser angle when they walk.  When resting they will
sometimes hold the first third of their body, including the forelegs, up
in the air at an angle.  I have looked in all my books, and can't find
anything even remotely resembling them.  Does anybody know what they are?

Thanks for any help you may be able to give me,

-- Angela

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From: [email-masked] (DTDerekson)
Date: 13 Aug 1995 16:52:45 -0400

Someone else may be able to be more specific, but they're probably in the
hand-maid moth category. I have a black walnut tree and each year I
routinely scrape one or two great squirming masses of the things from its
trunk (they gather in loose silken nests once they are large enough -- it
can be pretty gross! (Howz that for a scientific term?). A good sized
colony can defoliate some major branches, so personally, though I enjoy
lepidoptera and work to preserve and enhance the habitats, I do treat
these like gypsy moths and give them the Royal Flush treatment!