# Can anyone ID this caterpillar?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 16, 2019, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726 "2019-08-16T06:03:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/1 "2019-08-16T06:03:58Z")
A couple of nights ago I was sitting in my yard under a patio umbrella during a heavy rain reading on my phone when I noticed a small (less than one inch) caterpillar on one of my fingers. I carefully peeled it off (it was clinging like velcro) and put it on the table in front of me and attempted to record some decent video of it with my camera in torch mode. It wasn’t until I let the caterpillar go that I reviewed the bittage and saw that it had some weird markings on the front that might be face-mimicing, but the video wasn’t detailed enough to get a good look at it. I want to see some better photos of the species, but so far my googling has been fruitless. Any help?
[Video link](https://youtu.be/z38xVRTSuKU).
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### Author:  [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/2 "2019-08-16T06:17:45Z")
It has a very big “ face” for a catterpillar…
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/3 "2019-08-16T08:35:28Z")
It has a very loud “ROAR” for a caterpillar less than one inch long!
But where are you located?
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/4 "2019-08-16T12:21:21Z")
South Carolina.
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### Author:  [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/5 "2019-08-16T15:17:22Z")
Looks like a type of tent caterpillar.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/6 "2019-08-16T15:36:10Z")
First eliminate the sawflies - it’s really hard to tell from that video, how many prolegs ( fatter “legs” after the first 3 real pairs) does it have?
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/7 "2019-08-16T16:33:00Z")
I can’t tell either, from the video. And that’s all the observation that I have (other than a few more seconds of similar video.) This was taken around midnight and the LED on the phone was the only light.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/8 "2019-08-16T16:46:11Z")
Identification could be achieved by setting the caterpillar up and allowing it to complete its life cycle.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/9 "2019-08-16T16:54:38Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> I can’t tell either, from the video. And that’s all the observation that I have
Next time, try and get the bottom/legs in full view.
If it’s as small as you say, it could be an early instar of something more familiar, but that makes it harder to search for, as most caterpillar ID pics focus on the later, bigger, instars.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-id-this-caterpillar/838726/10 "2019-08-17T01:44:30Z")
Steve…?