Wooly bear caterpillar

Autumn ambassadors with astounding abilities, woolly bear caterpillars have wormed their way into our tool sheds, folklore, festivities and hearts.

wooly bear

In the last week, I've seen almost 50 wooly bear caterpillars. These caterpillars are also known as "wooly caterpillar", "bear caterpillars" and "wooly worms" (latin: phyrrhartica isabella). These fuzzy, brown, and black caterpillars come out just as the weather grows cold. I often find hiding in woodpiles or garden mulch getting ready to hibernate till

In honor of this year’s focus on tiger moths, our partner, citizen science website Project Noah will be featuring a fun fact about the tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) during National Moth Week. From Project Noah: The Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) is a tiger moth very common in North America. Subjected to a temperate climate,…

Wooly Bear Caterpillar. Photo by Melissa K Oleson. (Paintedlily on Pinterest)

On Friday, April 16th nature decided to surprise us. This photo shows what I saw on my way to work that day. Parts of the state ended up with a foot of heavy wet snow but it was too warm for it to last.. …and in a day or two it was all gone. It…