Beware of poisonous caterpillars which look like toupees

[Stevicus]

Health officials in Virginia are warning about venomous caterpillars that look like toupées

Months after the invasion of murder hornets in the Pacific Northwest, health officials in Virginia are warning residents to be on the lookout for a new bug menace — a venomous breed of hairy caterpillar that has been spotted in the eastern part of the state. The Virginia Department of Forestry shared the warning on Facebook earlier this week, along with a photo of the caterpillar, which is covered in human-like hair.

“VDOF’s forest health team has received reports of the puss caterpillar in a few eastern Virginia counties,” read the Oct. 6 post. While the bug looks like a harmless, discarded toupée, the VDOF says that the “hairs” on the caterpillar “are actually venomous spines that cause a painful reaction if touched.”

Well, we've got murder hornets in the Northwest, killer bees in the Southwest, and sightings of these buggers in the Southeast.

That isn't a tribble or a toupee.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Clearly, its evolution was inspired by the 80s.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Lmao.

 

[Revoltingest]

Super Chicken predicted this.

 

[ChristineM]

Gotta watch out there's catapillars about

We get these



That's not one but hundreds of hairy processionary pine catapillars on the move.

The hairs of the caterpillar are irratating and poisonous, they can cause necrosis. They mostly effect pets and children who are not cautious if touching then

They make distinctive white nests in pine trees that should be destroyed if found, best left to experts who sever the branch and burn it to avoid touching or disturbing the nest

 

[Twilight Hue]

Well as long as there are no evolved coconut crabs.. ..

 

[Suave]

Health officials in Virginia are warning about venomous caterpillars that look like toupées



Well, we've got murder hornets in the Northwest, killer bees in the Southwest, and sightings of these buggers in the Southeast.

That isn't a tribble or a toupee.

I hope nobody touches this.

 

[Left Coast]

Health officials in Virginia are warning about venomous caterpillars that look like toupées



Well, we've got murder hornets in the Northwest, killer bees in the Southwest, and sightings of these buggers in the Southeast.

That isn't a tribble or a toupee.

Is this one of those pictures where you have to squint and unfocus your eyes to tell what you're looking at?

 

[Stevicus]

Is this one of those pictures where you have to squint and unfocus your eyes to tell what you're looking at?

Could be, but if the article didn't say what this thing was, I would never have guessed it in a million years.

 

[Stevicus]

I hope nobody touches this.

Indeed. There have been some accidental encounters between humans and these caterpillars, and it's apparently quite unpleasant. One woman in Virginia ended up in the ER.

Several people have described intense pain after coming into contact with a puss caterpillar. In August, one woman in Florida told Fox13 that one brushed up against her arm after an outdoor workout, causing painful red welts to form on her arm. She said it took hours for the pain to ease.

And last month, a Virginia woman landed in the ER after a puss caterpillar that was resting on her car door brushed against her leg. “It felt exactly like a scorching-hot knife passing through the outside of my calf,” Crystal Spindel Gaston told The Daily Progress. “Before I looked down to see where it came from, I thought 100 percent I was going to see a big piece of metal, super sharp, sticking out from my car.” Gaston, who went to the hospital for treatment, said it took three days before she started to feel normal again.

The puss caterpillar also was to blame for a case report published in the journal Cureus that described a 14-month-old boy who developed a red rash on his leg after sitting in a park with his parents. It spread and was treated with antihistamine drugs.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Well, we've got murder hornets in the Northwest, killer bees in the Southwest, and sightings of these buggers in the Southeast.

puss caterpillar (larva), southern flannel moth (adult) Megalopyge opercularis

There are the various poisonous USA caterpillars.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Health officials in Virginia are warning about venomous caterpillars that look like toupées



Well, we've got murder hornets in the Northwest, killer bees in the Southwest, and sightings of these buggers in the Southeast.

That isn't a tribble or a toupee.

Well, if it cooed I might think they are cute, but those are damned imposters! Kill the fake tribbles! Even the cute real ones are a major threat (even according to Klingons).

 

[Revoltingest]

They mostly effect affect pets and children who are not cautious if touching then

They make distinctive white nests in pine trees that should be destroyed if found, best left to experts who sever the branch and burn it to avoid touching or disturbing the nest

Fixed (to annoy).
Left "catapillar" alone (to be less annoying).

These Caterpillars are safe to touch, but don't let them crawl on you.
And don't disturb their nest.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Sounds like a toxic and hairy situation.