This hairy caterpillar found on wall of the building eating moss. I have no idea what it is. Any help identifying it will be appreciated.
Also, do you think I should rear the caterpillars to get life cycle information?
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I think you should rear this caterpillar and take daily photographs so that you can document its progress visually. Once it metamorphoses into the adult, I think it’d be much easier to identify.
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I’ve tried before… Since it feeds on moss, I’ve had difficulty figuring out how to keep up a regular supply.
Do you have any ideas, maybe next monsoon, I could try keeping moss in a caterpillar-ium.
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I’m not too sure but could it be the Gangara thyrsis caterpillar?
If that’s the case, then this little guy feeds on coconut as well as common rattan leaves…so need for moss shouldn’t be an issue.
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Nope akshitha, this caterpillar has proper hair or bristles more like the Tussock family, but unfortunately the hair was not arranged in tussocks.
Gangera thrysis is quite different in that it has more waxy string like hair. I’d actually reared this species more than a decade back. Data vanished with the loss of a hard disc.
I am most certain this hairy caterpillar is a moth species though. (Implicit knowledge). So I could be wrong.
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