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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Moths » Noctuoidea » Tussock Moths (Lymantriidae) » Orgyiini » Orgyia » Western Tussock Moth - Hodges#8309 (Orgyia vetusta)
Photo#58847
unknown caterpillar - Orgyia vetusta
Copyright © 2006 James Cook

unknown caterpillar - Orgyia vetusta
San Jose, California, USA
Size: about an inch long
I am hoping someone can tell me what this caterpillar is. I found a slew of them on some kind of palm tree (I have turned the image from its original orientation) while on a trip to San Jose recently. I would like to know what it is. Also, someone said that the three white things on its back were wasp eggs, but when I took the pictures I thought they were caterpillar fur. I didn't pet the little bugger, so I can only say that they looked soft and fuzzy.

Images of this individual: tag all
unknown caterpillar - Orgyia vetusta unknown caterpillar - Orgyia vetusta
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Contributed by James Cook on 20 June, 2006 - 11:07am
Last updated 26 December, 2008 - 10:46am

Moved
Moved from Orgyia.
… john and jane balaban, 26 December, 2008 - 10:46am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Butterflies and Moths.
… john and jane balaban, 6 November, 2006 - 5:18pm login or register to post comments

It's a tussock moth caterpillar
- resembles Orgyia venusta (below) but I don't know what other similar ones are in CA. I'm moving these to ID Request (from Arthropods) so more people will see them and perhaps comment.
… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 20 June, 2006 - 12:01pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks for putting this in a
Thanks for putting this in a more appropriate area of the forum.

Do you know anything about the wasp egg question?
… James Cook, 20 June, 2006 - 12:27pm login or register to post comments

 
Wasp pupae can look vaguely similar
on parasitized caterpillars. But these tufts are perfectly normal for tussock moths. Here's what the wasp pupae look like (on a hornworm). The eggs are laid inside the caterpillar and the larvae only come out to pupate. (I'm just guessing that this is what your friend was referring to.)

… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 20 June, 2006 - 12:31pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks.
I'll look forward to seeing an ID come through.
… James Cook, 20 June, 2006 - 12:36pm login or register to post comments

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