As we were cooking our BBQ last night, James spotted the most unusual Caterpillar in Stuart's sandal.
I've never seen anything like it before! It was covered in lots of hairy spikes, so we weren't about to touch it BUT we couldn't believe the size it! It wasn't easy to capture a photo of it because once we slid it out of Stuart's sandal, all it wanted to do was crawl away - *grin* - but here's a pic which gives you an idea of it's size!
Of course we had to get online and do some research to find out exactly what type of caterpillar it was and we believe it is a White Stemmed Gum Moth Caterpillar.
Here's what we found out about them from the Australian Museum
Identification
The wings of the female White-stemmed Gum Moth are attractively patterned with soft grays and browns. The male is slightly smaller and is darker, with more strongly contrasted markings. Both sexes are active at night. They sometimes fly to lights where the large females have been compared to bats as they move around the light source. As in many moth species, the males have large bipinnate (feathery) antennae, while the females have narrow, simple antennae. The large, thick caterpillars are grey-black with yellow bands and are covered with tufts of reddish-brown spiky bristles. The bristles can penetrate human skin and cause painful skin irritations, even after the larvae have been preserved in alcohol.
Size range
Adults: 16 cm wingspan; larvae: 12 cm length
Distribution
The White-stemmed Gum Moth is found in southern Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. There are more than 70 other described Australian moths in the family Anthelidae, with many more species yet to be described. Anthelids are found only in Australia and Papua New Guinea and are most closely related to silk moths (Bombyciidae) and emperor moths (Saturniidae).
Habitat
The White-stemmed Gum Moth lives in urban areas, forests and woodlands, heath.
Feeding & Diet
The caterpillars of the White-stemmed Gum Moth feed on gum trees. Life cycle The White-stemmed Gum Moth has an annual life cycle. The pupal stage lasts over late summer and most of autumn before the adult moths emerge in May. The females lay eggs that hatch into small caterpillars. The caterpillars feed on eucalypt leaves and grow throughout the rest of the year until they reach their maximum size before pupation. In summer, when the caterpillars are fully grown and are ready to pupate, they spin cocoons. As the caterpillar changes into a pupa, the bristles from its skin are pushed through the walls of the cocoon from the inside. The projecting bristles protect the pupa inside the cocoon in the same way that they protect the caterpillar. Pupation usually takes place under the loose bark of trees. Adults are short-lived (two to three days) and mate soon after emerging. They do not feed because none of the anthelids have functional mouthparts as adults.
Danger to Humans & First Aid
The bristles of the White-stemmed Gum Moth's caterpillars are difficult to remove and although they are not known to contain toxic chemicals, handling of caterpillars and pupae of this species will cause irritation to humans. Medical attention may be necessary in some cases. As a general rule it is not wise to handle hairy caterpillars, as many species are known to cause irritation. Irritation to skin by hairs is sometimes referred to as 'urticaria', meaning 'nettle-like'.
Interesting huh? Goodness knows why we found him near our BBQ though - the closest Gum Tree is 20 metres or so away from the front of the house!
So . . . where is the little guy now? Well - initially we put him out on the trunk of the Gum Tree out the front of the house BUT James has decided to keep him for a little while and see if he starts spinning his coccoon - not that we'll be touching it though! We'll keep you posted!
