Caterpillar

A caterpillar is the larval stage of a moth or butterfly, and its main job is to eat and grow. Moths and butterflies go through complete metamorphosis in four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. A caterpillar sheds its skin several times as it grows, then forms a chrysalis or cocoon. Depending on the species and the weather, the caterpillar stage lasts anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months.

How to Recognize a Caterpillar and Common Florida Kinds

Caterpillars have a soft, segmented body, a hard head with chewing jaws, three pairs of short jointed legs right behind the head, and up to five pairs of fleshy, stubby prolegs farther back. Inchworms and loopers have fewer prolegs, which is why they move in a loop. Sawfly larvae look similar but have six or more pairs of prolegs, and they’re relatives of wasps rather than moths.

Caterpillars Floridians commonly see:

• Oleander caterpillar: orange with tufts of black hairs, feeding in groups on oleander.
• Orange dog: the young giant swallowtail, brown and white and shaped a lot like a bird dropping, found on citrus leaves.
• Monarch: banded yellow, black and white, found on milkweed.
• Hornworms: large and green with a harmless horn at the tail end, on tomatoes and peppers.
• Tropical sod webworm and fall armyworm: small, drab lawn feeders that do much of their feeding in the evening or at night.

Where they live and what they eat: many species feed on just one plant or plant family, so the host plant is often the fastest way to identify them. A few, like pantry moth and clothes moth larvae, live indoors on stored food or natural fibers.

When they’re active: mainly spring through fall in North Florida, while in South Florida many species breed year-round thanks to mild winters. Caterpillars are very common across the state. A small number carry stinging spines, so read caterpillar health concerns before handling any you can’t identify.