Caterpillar bite?????

[Lothlorien]

We just came back from a trip to Florida. We have a really bad gypsy moth infestation around here. It's so gross...there are tiny little black pellets everywhere....feces! Gross! Anyway, right before we left, we got rid of the ones she had in her little bug cage, so I told her she could go out and get some more. They are all over the trees and fairly big too! All of a sudden she comes in crying saying they hurt her. she has a tiny little hole in her thumb!!!!! I have her sitting on the couch with some ice and I sprayed it with some itch relief spray. What the heck????? I've never heard of this before! They were all gypsy moths back there....not other kinds.

 

[wakeupcall]

I think it might be an Asp. They sting as bad as a wasp and look just like a furry catepillar. We have them in Texas.

 

[wakeupcall]

Here is a site I found about them:

http://hortipm.tamu.edu/pestprofiles/chewing/asp/asp.html

 

[Lothlorien]

Thanks, but no, it wasn't one of those. It's a gypsy moth caterpillar. They are huge, now. If you go outside in the woods in my backyard, you can hear the droppings hit the undergrowth. You can see all the little pellets everywhere. They are all over the trees. The kids can't play in the sandbox or play back there, right now, not for another week or so, because of all the dropping. I tell ya, I've never seen anything like it in my life. There are a few starting to cocoon. There was one already changing today and then a few hours later, there was a second one starting to change. There was a big article in the paper today about it. It's too late to spray, so we just have to live with it until next week, when they are all cocooned and then deal with all the moths flying around.

We also have caterpillars with spikes on them. I've never seen those before. They are black with orange specks on them and have large black spikes, instead of fur. Weird.