Macro Monday: Woollybear Caterpillar

It is only July here in Minnesota but the unseasonal weather that we had earlier this month has made me already begin to think about fall. Fall is my favorite season of the year. Fall is the time of the year when many birds migrate through on their way south, the weather is usually very pleasant, and the countryside comes alive with fall colors. Even though we have had some fall like weather fall is still a ways away because it can not be fall until the banded woolly bears come out.

The banded woolly bear is the larval form of the Isabella tiger moth. It is called a woolly bear because of the long bristles, setae, which resemble fur. Banded woolly bear caterpillars emerge from their egg in the fall, which is why they are a good indicator for the fall season. They will spend the winter in their larval form, producing a biological antifreeze to help them survive the cold. When things warm up again they will eat and then spin a cocoon. The emerged Isabella tiger moth will live out through the summer reproducing the next generation.