The wooly bears are here!

moonwolf · #21 10/12/04, 08:42 PM

I noticed a couple of wooly bears (not together, though) while driving down the road into town. They were scooting in an east-southeastely direction. A guess is that if they kept going in a straight line that way, they might end up somewhere north of N. Carolina? This is, of course, mere speculation.
I haven't captured one to measure the band size. If I do, I'll get the calipers to get band lenghs. From the ones I've seen, there are the 3 bands seem to be fairly even.
What about girth? Do you measure that, like you would a fish? And how is that interpreted? This is all new to me, so I may need some guidance, deberosa. :haha:

It's to get only in the 40's tomorrow with rain. Will they still be around if they were today?, or what the hell do they do?

southerngurl · #22 10/12/04, 08:49 PM

I thought they stung?

I've been seeing tons of them. They have been almost all orange-brown. Very little black on them.

deberosa · #23 10/12/04, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonwolf

I noticed a couple of wooly bears (not together, though) while driving down the road into town. They were scooting in an east-southeastely direction. A guess is that if they kept going in a straight line that way, they might end up somewhere north of N. Carolina? This is, of course, mere speculation.
I haven't captured one to measure the band size. If I do, I'll get the calipers to get band lenghs. From the ones I've seen, there are the 3 bands seem to be fairly even.
What about girth? Do you measure that, like you would a fish? And how is that interpreted? This is all new to me, so I may need some guidance, deberosa. :haha:

It's to get only in the 40's tomorrow with rain. Will they still be around if they were today?, or what the hell do they do?

I have no idea what they do mostly, and I've only heard that the relative band sizes are important, but some are reporting on fuzziness. I knew I would learn more than I thought about wooly bears if I posted. :haha:

BeeFree · #24 10/12/04, 11:50 PM

We call them wooly worms here.

I have noticed 3 on my porch. One was crawling East and he was black and fuzzy. One was crawling West and he was a funny orange brown with not much fuzzy. The one today was crawling up beside my storm door going straight up. He was black fuzzy.

BCR · #25 10/13/04, 07:34 AM

The Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar, mostly white with 2 obvious black tufts near the front causes an allergenic reaction to some people if they handle them, but not everyone.

The two-toned woolly caterpillar- black then red-orange then black is the caterpillar of the Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella). The width of the bands vary with the black giving way to the red-orange as the caterpillar matures.

The all black woolly caterpillar is the Giant Leopard Moth (Ecpantheria scribonia) which overwinters here. When it is curled up you can see reddish rings between the segments.

Can you tell I've been spending lots of time with bugs lately? :haha:

Chas in Me · #26 10/13/04, 08:30 PM

Saw two at the local Wally World the other day. They were buying ear muffs and mittens. Wonder what that means?

debitaber · #27 10/13/04, 08:51 PM

baby its cold out side!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

deberosa · #28 10/14/04, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chas in Me

Saw two at the local Wally World the other day. They were buying ear muffs and mittens. Wonder what that means?

That can't be a good thing! :haha:

moonwolf · #29 10/16/04, 12:48 PM

Okay, I got one of these wooly bear caterpillars from the driveway today.
I brought it in the shop and measured the bands.
Here are the measurements starting at the head end:

Black band=21 milimeters
Orange middle band= 19 mm
Black rear band= 20 mm

soulsurvivor · #30 10/16/04, 07:50 PM

all the woolie bullies here are fuzzy fat and black. And the squirrels and chipmunks are going crazy trying to find food, since a late May freeze cut way back on the supply of nuts. Gonna be a hard winter....