This Illinois Caterpillar Will Ruin Your Day If You Touch It

Here’s a little warning from someone (me) who saw a family member (my son) find out the hard way about these little guys, and who’s kept an eye out for them ever since then.

It’s a Tussock Moth Caterpillar, and it’s venomous. Not the “well, it’s been nice knowing you” type of venomous, but as my son recently found out, it’s a pretty unpleasant experience.

He got an up-close-and-personal visit from one, and I think it’s safe to say he’s hoping that it never happens again, and we’d really hate to see it happen to you.

These Little Creatures May Look Fuzzy And Friendly, But Only The “Fuzzy” Part Is Accurate

Fuzzy, yes. Harmless, not so much. This whole experience began with my son Spencer and I sitting on the patio at home, about to go in and have lunch.

As he stood up, his hand went to the back right-side of his neck and he swept something away that had been crawling on him. When I looked down to see what he’d knocked to the ground, I saw an unusual looking caterpillar.

Here’s the culprit (right before being terminated with extreme prejudice by an angry mom protecting her grown son):

All It Takes Is Just A Single Touch To Make You Totally Regret Meeting One

It was a White-Marked Tussock Moth Caterpillar. I knew that because I’d recently read a piece online about venomous caterpillars. I read that piece because we’d seen another one crawling on some backyard flowers about a week before.

The caterpillar has a built-in defense mechanism located in those tufts of hair. The venom contained in those hairs is released when the hairs become embedded in your skin upon contact. That venom can cause anything from a minor irritation to a very nasty (but not life-threatening) allergic reaction.

I assumed that because there were two touches involved (where the caterpillar was crawling on his neck, and on his hand when he swept it away) my son would have two areas that would need quick attention. I went straight to Google to see what we needed to do to mitigate the consequences of it being on his skin.

Strangely enough, the caterpillar only nailed him on one of those spots. His neck:

We also found it odd that initially, he showed no signs whatsoever of having been exposed to the venom. However, when it did announce itself, it brought some serious itching, burning, and overall discomfort.

What you see above didn’t show up for several hours, and by the time we photographed his neck it was looking a lot better than it did at first. We treated it with ice and calamine lotion, and he seems to be healing up quickly.

By the way, the Tussock Moth Caterpillar is not the only Illinois caterpillar that can cause you pain and discomfort if you touch one. Make sure you don’t touch these guys, either:

The Io Moth Caterpillar has stinging hair and barbs that can cause pain and rashes if touched.

The Imperial Moth Caterpillar is covered with irritating hairs that can cause severe itch and rashes.

The Saddleback Caterpillar features stinging spines and hairs that can cause extreme skin irritation.