Saddleback Caterpillar

Natural Habitat

Deciduous forests, orchards, and gardens; common across the eastern United States.

Diet & Feeding

Polyphagous herbivore; eats leaves from a wide variety of plants including oak, chestnut, dogwood, maple, hibiscus, and corn.

Behavior Patterns

The larva is slow-moving and uses a slug-like locomotion. It features urticating spines for defense and goes through several instars before spinning a hard, silk cocoon to pupate.

Risks & Benefits

Risk: Highly medically significant; possesses hollow stinging spines that inject irritating venom, causing severe pain, swelling, and sometimes systemic reactions in humans. Benefit: Serves as a food source for specialized predatory wasps and provides ecological balance as a native herbivore.

Identified on: 4/24/2026