This thing is cool. Like to know what it is and how big it really is.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1665762/what_is_this/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1665762/what_is_this/
I wouldn't say very venomous, I would say stinging/irritating. I got zapped twice by a hagmoth and once by a saddle back. The saddleback absolutely lit my fire, I mean instant pain like fire. The worst in the US imo is the puss caterpillar, very painful and systemic crap related to that one as well.I noe this is a old thread.
but imo its a subspecies of Megalopyge family.
very venomous once a spine or hair is in you.
Yeah, I was 14 and I touched it with my finger, I thought it was cool looking , but it stung like hell, I've only done it once. I learn by doingThey must bother you more than me, or that was a particularly potent one, because I've been stung a few times by saddlebacks and it wasn't too bad IIRC.
I got stung by the piller in miami , I lived in kendal to be exact. Speaking of jellyfish, I picked up a Man-o-war by the sail and the wind blew 1 tentacle over my fingers. That hurt so bad and I had to ride my bike 10 miles home with my hand feeling like it was vibrating off. I just need to tell this other jellyfish story while Im proving that Im an idiot. I was 13 and siting on my surf board waiting for "the" wave. There were these plate size flat purple jellyfish around. (This was in the Virgin Islands if anyone knows the species, they had a lighter purple flower pattern in the middle.) I thought it would be cool to "scoop" one up with the tip of my board, it was an 8 foot board. Eventually I scooped a big one up and it came sliding down the board and up my shorts, it was quite funny for everyone watching including my parents, great balls a fire ,I was in pain.How Ironic! I was mowing the lawn this afternoon, and while mowing under a sapling, my arm brushed under a leaf and I felt a sting. I immediately knew what it was and looked under the leaf to find a Saddleback.
I found seven in all on that poor devastated little tree. I was going to remove it but not anymore. They may accomplish the task for me anyway...
So I brushed the guy pretty good, and it was much like I remembered. It does burn for a little but not too bad. The pain quickly diminished, and after about half an hour it was just a feeling of pressure; which lasted another hour or so. It made a little red rash, and now the skin is very faintly discolored. No itching at all.
It makes me remember the stings I used to get from jellyfish when I was a kid, vacationing on Dolphin Island in the gulf. Not those man-o-wars, but what IIRC were called moon jellies. Some years you could hardly get in the water for them.
I'll post pics of the culprit and the sting site when I get the chance.
They actually have little "venom bulbs" and the spines are on these. Many caterpillars as well as moths have urticating hairs and cause irritation similar to "T"sAre these caterpillars delivering their venom via urticating hairs? I've read that some species of caterpillar/moth/butterfly do possess them, always wondered what it was like.
There was somebody on AB that pulled the eggs off a caterpillar and kept the caterpillar alive ,i cant remember who.That is a good story!
It's so crazy how things happen in rapid succession sometimes... I had almost posted that there once was a group of saddlebacks that lived on some Irises at my aunts house. We were enjoying watching them grow, but then noticed some wasps hanging around. Well I assume the wasps were responsible for the eggs that were laid on the pillars; totally wiping them out.
Yesterday all seven saddlebacks looked perfectly healthy. I didn't see the wasps, but today three were covered with egg cases and are apparently doomed.
I'll have to post the question in the bee section over on VL about the wasps. I'll also try to post pics tonight.