Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Yellow Bear

Spilosoma virginicaYellow Bear caterpillar (Spilosoma virginica), sometimes known as the Yellow Wooly Bear. Compare with one I photographed last year: they come in a great range of colors. According to Wagner, the pale early instars are gregarious, the older instars wonder lonely as a cloud. (I may have hopped-up Wagner’s description a bit.)

3 responses to “Yellow Bear”

  1. Or borrowed a bit from William Wordsworth. Syncretism!

  2. […] The very long hairs are key to ID. Here’s an example from Staten Island. Another from Prospect Park.Insert exclamation point. This is the Redhumped Caterpillar (Schizura concinna). Nothing else looks […]

  3. […] seems the Yellow Bear caterpillar is yellow in early instars, but then individuals takes on a variety of colors. Virginia […]

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