The Wooly Bear Caterpillar

This is our wooly bear “caterpillar”. We found it on our last Nature club last week. I found it in the grass near the play area, so I put it in my bug jar and put it in my bag. I kind of forgot about it! Today when I found it, it was a cocoon! Wooly bears live through the winter as caterpillars then they turn into the pupa stage in the spring. It will be about two weeks before he emerges. I’ll keep you posted!

Here is what we found out about what will come out of our cocoon:

The adult that emerges from the cocoon of the banded woolly bear is the Isabella tiger moth which as a wingspan of up to 2 ½ inches. Their wings are typically yellow or brown, with black spots. Female Isabella tiger moths lay their eggs on several different types of plants, including sunflowers and corn. Isabella tiger moths have a unique trait that other insects do not have. They can emit a sound to ward off their predators.