🐾 Maybe the reason I love animals so much, is because the only time they have broken my heart is when theirs has stopped beating.

Friday 1 November 2013

Hairy wonders


As I was watering the garden this morning, I discovered a whole clump of caterpillars at the base of my Acacia karroo tree. These are the larvae of the Lappet Moth and I am lucky enough to have them hatch in my garden every October.

Their appearance also coincides with the return in mid-October of the Red-chested Cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius – Piet-my-Vrou) as they make out a large part of this Cuckoo’s diet.

Eutricha capensis, the Cape lappet moth, is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae primarily found in South Africa. During the larval stage, cape lappets feed on a wide variety of African plants and can often be found aggregating in gardens. The caterpillars are brightly coloured and conspicuously hairy, while the bulky adult moths are mostly brown and much less striking in appearance.


I also found another clump at the base of one of the White Karee's (Rhus viminalis) and I think they have chosen their spot well, for I doubt that the Red-chested Cuckoo will go onto the ground in my garden.

If you look close enough, you will see some water droplets on them. Luckily I saw them just in time before wetting them completely with the hosepipe! Be careful of touching these deceptively soft-looking beauties, the hairs stick to whatever they come into contact with and and can cause an irritating, itchy rash.

The adult moths are large and stocky, with an average wingspan of about 70 mm (2.8 in). Both hind wings and fore wings are reddish brown. The fore wings are flecked with yellow and bear three wavy white stripes. Females are typically paler in colour and larger than males.

I will be keeping a close eye on them over the next few days and hopefully I can capture the adults emerging.

 A typical example of one of the Lappet moths
Image from iSpot

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7 comments:

  1. The hairy caterpillars look just like a living tapestry. I wouldn't like to meet the adult. Makes me shiver just looking at a photo.

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    1. Oh nooooo John! You're not afraid of bugs, are you?! he he! Besides, the adult moth is totally harmless and s-o-o-o-o-o soft to the touch, you'd love it!

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    2. Had an aversion to moths since I was about 5yrs old Maree.

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    3. Aaaaaw, I'm sorry! But my sister is like that, can't even look at pictures of insects then she borders close on histeria. The only thing that could have that kind of effect on me, is a centipede, especially if it's those giants from some rain forest, eeeeoooow!

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  2. Thanks for this post - we have the caterpillars in our garden. They do look scary and we were in two minds about letting them stay.

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    1. Wow, that's wonderful Penny! Hope you decided to let them stay! Let me know if you see the adults hatching! Thanks for visiting, nice to see you here!

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  3. I have the privilege of experiencing these for the first time. Whilst watering g my garden I noticed a small clump on my boer bean tree. All on top of each other. Seemed to just stay together for about a month, getting longer never saw them move, only now have a few moved on and the rest have gathered on the end of a twig firming a clump. Been very interesting to watch. Looking out for the birds that will feed on them now…

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