Look at this cutie! Makes you want to cuddle up with him doesn't it? Well if you did you'll be very sorry! Why because the little fella has irritant properties in those hairs on it's body. And the colors say "Stay away! I'm poisonous!" And by poisonous I mean this: If you were to pick this cutie up you would suffer rashes, blisters, and your skin peeling off. Some of the other "stingers" as they're nicknamed have even worse symptoms! There is one where the caterpillar and they adult have irritating hairs. It's called the Flannel moth. If you brush up against one of these ( caterpillars and adults ) you will receive unbearable pain and your hands or any other part of your body that had touched them will swell. I remember one of my friends on a insect forum I'm a member of telling me his experience with them. It was horrible. He accidentally brushed up against 3 of them that were on a leaf of an apple or orange tree where he was working and his hands got swollen really bad. He told me the pain was unbearable.
It got so bad ( the swelling of his hand ) he couldn't move his fingers! So watch out for the little devils! Tomorrow a really big surprise about some of the other "stingers" How could it get any worse? You'll have to see if it does or doesn't tomorrow.
P.S. I'm not sure of the species of the caterpillar in the photo. There's a tussock moth caterpillar that looks just like it only the colors are different. And it has different colors all over it's body. I'm sure it's some type of tussock caterpillar. But I'm not sure on the species.
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