Introducing Slug Caterpillars

A Menagerie of Slug Caterpillars at The Caterpillar Lab.

These backyard gems look as if they would be more at home in some exotic tropical reef than a suburban yard, but they are just one of the many treasures you can discover simply by slowing down and turning over leaves. Help us make slug caterpillars FAMOUS and SHARE this video! The world must know!

The Caterpillar Lab "Igniting the spark of backyard discovery"

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Video breakdown: Slug Caterpillar are in the moth family Limacodidae. There are over 1000 species known worldwide. Many have stinging, venomous spines, so handling is not recommended. They eventually spin cocoons, pupate within, and emerge as compact, rather fluffy, but otherwise regular-looking moths.

The cast of characters: • Opening Clip: Saddleback Caterpillars, Acharia stimulea • Second: Skiff Slugs, Prolimacodes badia • Third: Monkey Slugs, Phobetron pithecium • Fourth: Crowned Slugs, Isa textula • Fifth: A heard of Saddleback Caterpillars, Acharia stimulea • Sixth: A Skiff Slug sheds its skin, turns around and begins to eat it, Prolimacodes badia • Seventh: Looking inside a Spiny Oak Slug, Euclea delphinii - tracheae and malpighian tubules visible. • Eighth: Spiny Oak Slug, Euclea delphinii hatches out of its egg. • Ninth: Stinging Rose Caterpillars, Parasa indetermina