Common Arkansas Caterpillars

Strange Caterpillars

• The caterpillar of the Streaked Tussock moth has a brown body covered with fur and two tufts of long, black hairs resembling paintbrushes growing out of its head. It grows to 1.7 inches long and lives in the woodlands and forests. The mature caterpillars are found from May to July.

  The White Furcula is a strange-looking caterpillar that resembles a dying leaf. It's found at the edges of fields and woodlands in northern Arkansas from June to October. Its food plant is the cherry tree. When the larva is alarmed it shunts blood to its prolegs, which causes them to grow to half the length of the caterpillar's body, then begins whipping them wildly around.

Geometridae

• The Fringed Looper is a member of the geometridae family, named because of the way the larvae inch up branches.The drab caterpillar lives in the woodlands and forests of Arkansas. It has two broods, with one appearing from April to June and the second from June to September. The Fringed Looper caterpillar eats the leaves of many woody shrubs and trees and grows to about 1/2 inch long. The adult is a ghostly white moth also known as the pale beauty.

  Kent's Geometer caterpillars are camouflaged to look like twigs on the trees that are their food plants. They can be found from June to July, and a partial second generation emerges in the fall. The larva grows to .63 inches long.

Prominents

• The Alien Probole also mimics a twig but not as expertly as the Kent's Geometer because it's more of a yellowish-green. It can grow to 1.38 inches long and lives in the wetlands and woodlands of Arkansas. Mature caterpillars are seen from June till frost. They eat dogwoods, sour gum and other hardwoods. The adult is a gray and brown moth with striking patterns.

  The Contracted Datana caterpillar grows to 1.8 inches long. It's black-and-white striped and covered in soft, white hairs. Contracted Datana caterpillars can be found in groups on elm, hickory and walnut trees in fields and woodlands. The caterpillars emerge from June to September, and it can take two years for them to mature.

Herbivorous Caterpillars

• Peck's Skipper is a brown-gray caterpillar with pale freckles. Its round head is notable because it has a black collar that separates the head from the rest of the body. It grows to nearly an inch and is found in fields and other open, grassy places in northern Arkansas. It overwinters as a pupa.

  The American Copper larva is an apple-green caterpillar covered with short hair and white freckles. It's found in the fields, powerline right of ways, pastures and waste places in Arkansas and grows to .6 inches long. The mature caterpillar can be found from June till frost. It eats sheep sorrel and dock.