Nevin Mills, age 2, the grandson of Gary and Rosemary Mills, of Cedar Springs, befriended a woolly “bear” caterpillar that he named “Bob.”
This type of caterpillar is the larval form of the Isabella Tiger moth. They hatch during warm weather from eggs laid by a female moth. Mature woolly bears search for sites under bark or inside cavities of rocks or logs where they can stay the winter. (That’s why you see so many of them crossing roads and sidewalks in the fall.)
When spring arrives, woolly bears spin fuzzy cocoons and transform inside them into full-grown moths.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, woolly “bear” caterpillars became famous when Dr. C.H. Curran, curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, performed an experiment at Bear Mountain State Park on the woolly “bear” caterpillars to predict the weather. From 1948 to 1956, he collected as many caterpillars as he could in a day, determined the average number of reddish-brown segments, and forecast the coming winter weather through a reporter friend at The New York Herald Tribune.
According to legend, the wider that middle brown section is (i.e., the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. Conversely, a narrow brown band is said to predict a harsh winter. During Curran’s experiments, he found the bands to be wider, and the winters were somewhat milder. He knew, however, that he was testing a small amount of data, and it was an excuse to have fun more than anything scientific.

We recently received a photo of an unusual looking caterpillar that was found by Wendy Conely, of Solon Township. She wondered what type of caterpillar it was.

We guessed it to be a cecropia moth caterpillar, and naturalist Ranger Steve Mueller, of Cedar Springs, confirmed it is indeed a cecropia moth larva. “If it was crawling about, it is probably looking for a place to spin a cocoon,” said Steve. “It will over winter and emerge in May if kept outside. If the cocoon is kept indoors it will emerge as an adult early and will not find a mate for reproduction.”

Ranger Steve is the state coordinator for Michigan and Utah for the national database of Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA), a citizen science website. He said it was a good year for the silk moths, and he received several photos of adult moths that people submitted to document the species for their county.

“When people submit a butterfly or moth record, I verify the identification and then it is posted on the national database,” he explained.

Anyone can take photos and submit them to BAMONA, no species knowledge necessary. To learn more, or to get involved, visit www.butterfliesandmoths.org.