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Beyond the wooly bear: Fuzzy fall caterpillars

KAXE | By Charlie Mitchell
Published September 12, 2025 at 2:00 PM CDT
A naturalist holds a handful of Isabella tiger moth caterpillars, better known as "wooly bear" caterpillars.
Contributed
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Courtney Celley/USFWS
A naturalist holds a handful of Isabella tiger moth caterpillars, better known as "wooly bear" caterpillars.

During the Phenology Report for the week of Sept. 9, 2025, Staff Phenologist John Latimer talks fall colors, fuzzy caterpillars and hummingbird migration.

Most Minnesotans are familiar with the wooly bear caterpillar, which is a common sight on sidewalks, trails, and yards. Other common caterpillars, such as the tussock moth caterpillar, are less abundant but equally striking.

In this week’s phenology report, John covers a few of them: Have you seen any of these yet?

Four fuzzy caterpillars are shown: from left to right, the Milkweed tussock moth (which is black, orange, and white), the Virginian tussock moth (which is entirely orange), the banded tussock moth (which is yellow with long white and black tufts at the head and tail), and spotted tussock moth (which is orange in the middle with a black head and tail, with long white tufts emerging from the head and tail).
KAXE
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Graphic by Charlie Mitchell. Original photography by iNaturalist users: robertjdaun (spotted tussock moth), zoefolkert (Virginian tussock moth), steffenwolf (Banded tussock moth), and Madeleine Kerr (Milkweed tussock moth).
Tussock caterpillars get their name from their fuzzy, pipe-cleaner-like appearance. Their 'hair' grows in tufts or 'tussocks', and serves to protect the caterpillar and warn potential predators. These are some of the more common species, other than the familiar "wooly bear" caterpillar.

Topics

  • Introduction (0:00-0:50)
  • Fall colors (0:50-4:26)
  • Wildflowers (4:26-11:36)
  • Butterflies (11:36-13:03)
  • Hummingbirds (13:03-14:20)
  • Ferns (14:20-14:52)
  • Frogs (14:52-16:08)
  • Caterpillars (16:08-17:04)
  • Conclusion (17:04-18:18)

What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.

That does it for this week! For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
Tags
Science and Nature PhenologyKAXE Morning ShowTuesday Morning ShowKAXEPhenology ReportFall phenologyCaterpillars
Charlie Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell (she/they) joined KAXE in February of 2022. Charlie creates the Season Watch Newsletter, produces the Phenology Talkbacks show, coordinates the Phenology in the Classroom program, and writes nature-related stories for KAXE's website. Essentailly, Charlie is John Latimer's faithful sidekick and makes sure all of KAXE's nature/phenology programs find a second life online and in podcast form.


With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, or the star-nosed mole. (Fun fact: Moles store fat in their tails, so they don't outgrow their tunnels every time conditions are good.)
See stories by Charlie Mitchell
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