Ever seen one of these caterpillars crossing the road in the fall and wondered where it is going with such a sense of purpose?
Woolly Bears (also known as"Fuzzy Wuzzies") won't sting or bite, and if you pick one up, they'll usually curl right up into a tiny ball to protect itself.
They are woolly bear caterpillars (Pyrrharctia isabella), and they are the juvenile form of the Isabella tiger moth:
Photo by Dr. Everett Cashatt, courtesy of the Illinois State Museum.
You may wonder why wooly bear caterpillars put themselves at such risk by crossing roads. They are are not fussy eaters, and will eat just about anything (including dandelions, grasses, plantains, nettles and many other common wild plants), so probably they’re not searching for some kind of rare or specialized food source.
More likely is that they’re scouting around for a safe place to spend the winter. When the weather turns cold in fall, almost- fully-grown woolly bear caterpillars curl up in the leaf litter under plants and trees, or in wood/brush piles, and hibernate til spring.
Amazingly, they have adapted to survive the frozen northern winters by producing a chemical substance that protects them from freezing! A natural antifreeze…
Unfortunately for woolly bear caterpillars, hungry winter birds consider them a great protein source, so many caterpillars don’t make it through to spring. Those that survive wake up in March or April when grasses and plants start forming leaves, eat for a short time, then begin spinning a dark silky cocoon around themselves to continue the transformation into a tiger moth.
So what do you think? Why do you think the woolly bear is crossing the road? Is it looking for fallen leaves or the brushpile in your beautiful wildlife garden where it can sleep until spring?
Ellen Sousa is a garden coach and writer from Spencer, MA, where she maintains a small horse farm as NWF Certified Backyard Habitat 71074. Visit her habitat farm website and blog at THBFarm.com
© 2010, Ellen Sousa. All rights reserved. This article is the property of BeautifulWildlifeGarden.com If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
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They might also be heat-seeking. Lots of critters are on the asphalt in early spring and late fall because the black asphalt surface is nice and warm in the sun, even when the air is quite cold.
hi Pam (nice to see you here, btw!)
You could be right, the warm pavement must be nice to tiny creatures when the weather gets cold, even ones with warm furry coats like the woolly bear
This fuzzy little guy is the caterpillar of my childhood. Looking at your picture… I’m 10 years old again! Thanks for the great post and the “warm fuzzy feeling” it brings
Chris
Chris McLaughlin recently posted..The Chiweenie Draws a Winner
What a delightful post. I find myself imagining the life of a Fuzzie Wuzzie.. what he is up to… who his friends are. Thanks!
Kathy @nativegardener recently posted..An Aloe From Louise
We have ‘woolly bears’ in our South African garden. That is why they look so purposeful, LONG journey ahead of them! Will have to see what ours will grow into.
Elephant’s Eye recently posted..Photographing birds- in our garden- mostly
That journey would even surpass the monarch butterfly’s migration! haha. Let us know whether your woolly bears also turn into tiger moths or similar. Do you have silkworm moths in South Africa?
Tx for pointing me in the right direction. It will be a tri-coloured tiger. Red and white body, yellow wings. In the book, will look out for a live one. They eat Chrysanthemoides and Tecomaria (Cape honeysuckle) so dinner is served. No wonder we have hordes of them ;>)
Elephant’s Eye recently posted..Chocolate- cocoa and … Dombeya
How strange that I never thought about what a wooly bear turned into, never thinking beyond it prognostication powers as a predictor of winter weather. Fascinating post.
commonweeder recently posted..Where Am I
You know, I’ve heard so many times that it’s a myth that the size of the woolly bear’s stripe is a portent of the winter’s severity, but I have heard a theory which might finally explain the history of it…a woolly bear sheds its skin several times through the autumn, and each time, its middle orange band becomes wider and black bands more narrow. If winter comes early, the caterpillars are more likely to dive down into the leaves and hibernate, so we are less likely to see cats with the wider orange band. Makes sense to me!