Lappet Moth Caterpillar

Subject:  Slug caterpillar
Geographic location of the bug:  Kentucky
Date: 09/20/2021
Time: 12:42 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I can find several similar slug caterpillars, but none this long that look so much like lichen! Do you know what it is?
How you want your letter signed:  Sky

Lappet Moth Caterpillar

Dear Sky,
This is not a Stinging Slug Caterpillar.  We believe it is a Lappet Moth Caterpillar in the family Lasiocampidae, possibly the American Lappet Moth which is pictured on BugGuide.  According to BugGuide:  “Caterpillars feed on leaves of alder, birch, oak, poplar, willow, snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus), chinquapin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla), and members of the rose family; larvae rest longitudinally along a twig during the day, and feed at night.”

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