Black And Red Spiky Caterpillar Found in conspicuous communal webs on food plants.

Black and red spiky caterpillar. The swallowtail caterpillar is like its adult butterfly form a rare and spectacular sight. Black with long brown hairs red spots on top and a line of white marks along each side. Black 65 yellow white 54 brown 45 red orange 32 gray blue 24 body main pattern striped 65 none 59 spotted 51 slashed 23 banded 21 camouflaged 17 distinct features none 51 spines 44 1 tail 31 knobs 23 split tail 22 head horns 18 lashes 12 hair density none 112 sparse 42 tufts 25 dense 24 range north. That black spiky caterpillar you may have seen crossing the road or in a woodpile turns into a giant leopard moth. This caterpillar should not be confused with the very similar brown tail moth caterpillar euproctis chrysorrhoea whose hair can highly irritate the skin and cause temporary blindness in case of eye contact. The monarch caterpillar danaus plexippus is quite easy to identify with its black white and yellow stripy appearance monarch caterpillars gorge on milkweed which makes them poisonous to other birds and insects. This caterpillar is closely related to the common woolly bear which is black on the ends with red in the middle and is often found crawling across roads in late summer. The giant leopard moth caterpillar has black spikes which are variously described as hairy bristled fuzzy spiky furry or woolly with red or orange bands around its body. The caterpillar is not all black like many in this guide but has orange and often gray hairs in addition to the black ground color.