Milkweed Tussock Moth

This is a fairly common caterpillar, though this was the first one I saw this summer. It's a caterpillar of the Milkweed Tussock Moth, one of the numerous denizens of our local milkweed plants.

As moths, they're a little on the plain side, but as caterpillars they look a little like an arts-and-crafts project made from pipe cleaners. Like most insects that use milkweed as a host plant, they're somewhere on the bad-tasting/poisonous side of the edibility spectrum. The caterpillar's unique look makes it easy for would-be predators to identify them as poisonous. 

Since they're also considered to be poisonous as adult moths, I'm a little surprised they don't have a more distinctive look as adults. Instead of appearance, they apparently signal their unpalatability by making distinctive sounding ultrasonic clicking noises that bats recognize.

They don't normally compete directly with Monarch butterfly caterpillars because while Monarch caterpillars prefer young milkweed leaves, Milkweed Tussock caterpillars would rather eat older leaves. Milkweed Tussock caterpillars will also sometimes eat dogbanes instead.

July 18, 2021 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo 148189945, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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