It looks like a tuft of hair, or maybe some burrs. It’s actually venomous larvae, a caterpillar that will eventually turn into the Megalopyge opercularis “puss” moth.
Just brushing against the caterpillar – which is one of the most venomous in the U.S. – can cause extreme pain. This week, a Florida resident reported seeing more than one of them.
“When I looked up, there it was, this little hairy caterpillar,” said Joel Mathis in Clermont, Fla., according to WESH. “I saw two more on the fence. I had one on the top rail and I had one down on the fence itself.”
These caterpillars, which are known by a variety of names such as “southern flannel” caterpillars, “stinging asps” and more, can be found from New Jersey to Florida and west to Arkansas and Texas, according to the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida. They are commonly spotted in Florida during the fall and spring on oak and elm trees.
According to PennLive, the puss caterpillars also live in Pennsylvania.
“The caterpillar is covered in hair-like bristles with an orange streak frequently running down its back,” said the foundation. Hidden in the bristles are hollow hairs, or “extremely toxic spines that stick to your skin.”
When people are stung by these spines, the pain can radiate through their entire body, though severity varies. For example, when Eric Day, the manager of Virginia Tech’s Insect ID Lab brushed against one of the caterpillars while mowing his lawn, he felt a burning sensation and found an inch-long sting, according to NPR.
“The burning sensation went away in a day or so, but that blister and then subsequent kind of irritated area was visible for several weeks,” Day said.
Puss caterpillars “go through boom-and-bust cycles, and population numbers can change substantially based on weather, food availability, and the number of parasites around,” said the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida. In fall of 2020, many were popping up in Virginia.
Around that time, CNN reported that a Richmond, Va., resident described being stung as being cut by a “scorching-hot knife.”
Those who are stung should get the spines out of their skin as soon as possible with cellophane tape, said the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida. As the sting heals, ice packs, oral antihistamine, and hydrocortisone cream can help with pain.
In extreme cases the sting can cause anaphylaxis, which is potentially fatal. Entomologist Molly Keck of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service told NPR that people who experience severe reactions should seek medical care.
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