Are Fuzzy Caterpillars Safe To Touch?

It is true, that it is not wise to pick up a fuzzy caterpillar with your bare hands! Usually if the caterpillar has hairs or is brightly colored, they can harm you. These features are meant to protect them from predators. If a predator such as a bird or lizard eats a fuzzy or brightly colored insect, it either tastes bad, gives the predator an upset stomach, or hurts the predator in some other way. This causes the predator to avoid eating another one in the future. Some fuzzy caterpillars such as the Woolly Bears and Tussock Moth Caterpillars have urticating hairs. These hairs can irritate the digestive tract of their predators, and can irritate your skin feeling like fine cactus needles. Puss caterpillars or Asps are more painful when touched. They are blonde in color and extremely hairy. These caterpillars have poison glands that produce an itchy skin rash when touched and hypersensitive individuals may require medical attention.

Puss caterpillar or "asp", Megalopyge opercularis (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Megalopygidae). Photo by Bart Drees, Professor and Extension Entomologist, Texas A&M University.