This caterpillar was found crawling across the driveway in October, 2005 at my lot, Fleetwood, Pa. The larva eats many different herbaceous and woody plants. It will over winter in a protected place and pupate in the spring. The adult shown here eclosed (emerged from the pupa) June 19, 2004 from a larva found in the spring of 2004.

The caterpillar is usually seen crawling across roads and other pavements in the fall looking for a place to spend the winter or in the spring looking for a place to pupate. When disturbed, it rolls into a ball and the red inter segmental rings show. Hairs are stiff and all about about the same length. Our largest "woolly bear" like caterpillar. Native to PA.

This is not the true woolly bear.

[Note on a moth with a similar name: A smaller moth with a similar name, the leopard moth (Zeuzera pyrina), has solid spots and is an introduced species from Europe. Its caterpillar does not look similar to the woolly bear and has only a few bristles per segment. The leopard moth bores into the wood of several tree species and has been found in apple trees in Berks County.]