I’ve been staying in the north woods in Franconia New Hampshire and encountered some pretty little hairy caterpillars that seem to irritate my skin a little. They turn out to be caterpillars of the hickory tussock (tiger) moth, Lophocampa caryae. They eat hickory and oak leaves.
They are among several species of “stinging hair” caterpillar. Skin reaction varies with people, mine was mild – just a question of : “Oh what’s that prickling on my neck?” and I swept up my hand to dislodge one of these little caterpillars, not an inch long.
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| Hickory tussock moth caterpillar photo credit: http://www.edupic.net |
If caterpillar stings are an issure for you, treat the affected area with ice and a paste of baking soda. In general (and I know that all generalizations are exaggerations) insects stings are acidic so the alkalinity (OK – basic-ness) of baking soda counteracts them.
As children, bitten by gnats (I lived in Britain, we didn’t have mosquitoes) we decorated ourselves with dabs of baking soda paste and became polka-doted children. Oh and btw, we called it “Bicarb” for "bicarbonate of soda", which is the chemical name, rather than “baking soda”.
Here’s a link to some info about the hickory tussock moth: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Lophocampa-carya
Happy camping!
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