The Woolly Bear caterpillar, the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth, is a familiar sight across the United States, southern Canada, and Mexico. These fuzzy critters are not only interesting to observe, but they also play a role in local ecosystems. This article delves into the dietary habits of the woolly bear caterpillar, exploring what they eat, how they obtain their food, and other interesting facts about their feeding behavior.
What is a Woolly Bear Caterpillar?
The Woolly Bear, also known as the Banded Woolly Bear, is the immature caterpillar form of the Isabella Tiger Moth. These caterpillars develop from eggs laid by female moths during the warmer months. They are easily identifiable by their distinctive appearance: a fuzzy body covered in bristles called setae, typically black at both ends with a reddish-orange band in the middle. While there are over 260 different species of woolly bears in North America, each with varying coloration, the banded woolly bear is the most recognizable.
The Woolly Bear's Herbivorous Diet
Woolly bears are primarily herbivores, meaning their diet consists mainly of plants. Their flexible diet contributes to their wide distribution and makes them an ideal choice for a home science project. They are not particularly picky eaters, which is a significant factor in their ubiquity. They will consume a wide variety of plants, making them adaptable to different environments.
Preferred Food Sources: Low-Growing Plants
Woolly bears prefer to eat low-growing, seed-bearing plants with leaves rather than blades. Some of their favorite foods include:
- Lamb’s quarters
- Violets
- Clovers
- Dandelions
- Nettles
- Burdock
- Yellow dock
- Curly dock
- Native plants
In addition to these wild plants, woolly bears will also consume leafy garden plants such as spinach, cabbage, various greens, garden herbs, and sunflowers on occasion. They are often found munching on herbaceous plants, which are low-growing, weedy types that commonly grow near human habitats.
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Alternative Food Sources: Grasses and Grains
In the absence of their preferred food sources, woolly bears will also eat grasses and grains. This includes both wild grasses and cultivated grains like maize and barley. However, they only consume the leaves of these plants and will only eat grasses that are in their leafy green stage.
Occasional Food Sources: Trees and Shrubs
Although woolly bears prefer to stay on the ground, they can occasionally be observed grazing on the leaves of shrubs and trees. This adaptability allows them to thrive in various environments, as they can find sustenance in multiple locations.
Feeding Behavior and Habitat
The wide variety of plants that woolly bear caterpillars consume means that this moth can be found virtually anywhere that plants grow. They are commonly found in lawns, fields, pastures, and prairies, as well as along roadsides and under dead plant debris.
Woolly bears are most often seen walking in the open, making them very visible. This is because, after completing their eating and growing phase, they go through a period of wandering to seek out a good spot to wait out the cold. It is less common to witness them actively eating during this wandering phase.
The Woolly Bear Life Cycle and Diet
There are two generations of woolly bears every year. The first generation hatches in May, eats during the summer, and transforms into moths in the fall. The second generation hatches in the fall, eats a little, hibernates over the winter, eats some more in the spring, and then turns into moths.
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Fall woolly bears can be found seeking shelter under dead plant debris where they frequently hibernate.
Once the caterpillar reaches maturity, it becomes an Isabella tiger moth. The Isabella tiger moth, the adult form of the woolly bear caterpillar, does not feed and lives for only about a week.
Raising Woolly Bears: Diet and Care
Woolly bears are relatively easy to care for, making them a popular choice for a home school science project. To successfully raise a woolly bear, it is essential to provide them with a proper diet and a suitable habitat.
Providing Food
The most important aspect of caring for a woolly bear is ensuring they have a constant supply of fresh food. Caterpillars will thrive on their original host plants; taking some of the leaves and plants from the area where you discovered your caterpillar and filling the caterpillar’s container with them is a good practice. Dandelions, grass, plantains, and burdock can all be beneficial to their survival.
Creating a Suitable Habitat
To construct a cocoon, your caterpillar will require a twig. In the caterpillar’s container, place a short twig or branch from outside. Also, when it starts feeding less or even stops, you might consider getting some plant debris - leaves, bark, hollowed out stems and twigs - and piling it in your habitat with the fresh food, so it has somewhere to hibernate. Make sure to check on it frequently to ensure it has access to fresh food when it comes out of hibernation. Put it outside in a garage, but first you need to add a substrate like eco earth. Mist it once a week but not directly on the cocoon. It should hatch in spring when it gets warmer.
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Addressing Common Questions
- Can you feed a woolly bear apple slices? While some sources suggest feeding woolly bears apple slices, their primary diet consists of herbaceous plants, grasses, and leaves. It's best to stick to their natural food sources.
- Are woolly bears harmful? Woolly bears are not harmful to humans and can actually make a great pet. They are not poisonous. However, some persons with sensitive skin may get dermatitis after touching the caterpillar’s bristles. This is what may have started the false idea that woolly bears are toxic. However, although they are not poisonous, it is smart to keep them away from pets, especially your dog. If your dog is the type to snack on random things then this could present a problem. This is because the woolly bear’s bristles may become lodged in their throat.
Woolly Bears and the Food Chain
As a tiny critter, you can bet that the woolly bear is a popular meal choice for many larger predators. The rigid hairs of the woolly bear provide a significant protection against adversaries such as yellow jackets and other insects. Another interesting thing that woolly bears can do to save themselves from parasitic predators is to become their own doctors! Yes, you read that right. They accomplish this by consuming the leaves of plants containing compounds known as beneficial alkaloids, such as comfrey, borage, groundsel, and others.
The Myth of Winter Prediction
Woolly bears, according to mythology, may even forecast the winter! Some predict a mild winter if the middle brownish-red band is wide. However, scientific sources suggest that the size of the orange band increases as the caterpillar grows; those with more orange grew up in a drier habitat and those with more black segments grew up where it was moister; lots of variety occurs naturally among caterpillar populations; and there’s plenty of disagreement among all of these views.
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