Cocoons like this one are all over my friend's external house walls. He tells me that the caterpillar frequents the oak tree in his yard. Photographed around 4:30 PM. Something seems to be sticking out of the cocoon near center right, likely a parasite.
According to the
University of Florida, this is the time of year when females lay their eggs on the cocoons. I'm guessing this is a Live Oak Tussock Moth cocoon,
Orgyia detrita, the most common of the Florida
Orygia species, in which the female covers her eggs with abdominal hairs. In contrast,
Orgyia leucostigma produces a frothy, white egg mass; and the "rarely encountered"
Orgyia definita ("most common in the New England and Middle Atlantic states") shows a "near absence of caterpillar hairs."
U FL adds that "Parasitism often runs near 50%."
