Stingers of autumn — caterpillars out in force

Aah, cool autumn. They're all going away — all the stinging skeeters, chiggers, no-see-ums, deerflies, horseflies, bees, yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, ticks, fire ants, spiders and fleas.

Owwwwwww! What's that?

"They were everywhere," said Sandy Williams, of James Island, about the weird little furry caterpillars she saw slithering the walk and the walls of an office park this week. "It was just so strange."

The puss moth, alias "the asp," caterpillar is just one more vilely, painfully, spiny insect in a Lowcountry that literally breeds them. It looks like a cross between a pussy willow catkin and a scorpion. And, man, it can put a hurt on. A Baylor College of Medicine Web site describes the sting as intense and throbbing.

But in the swampy Lowcountry incubator of nettling insects, few people have ever heard of this tiny beast.

You don't see it a whole lot, as

opposed to something like a yellow jacket," said Laurie Reid, S.C. Forestry Commission entomologist. Mostly puss moths stay on the underside of leaves where their eggs are laid. They crawl down to cocoon for the winter and become moths in the spring. The moths spend a few frantic weeks in the air laying eggs everywhere they find leaves.

"They stay hidden. They're like little mice, all fur covered, fawn colored," she said.

It's also tough to get stung by one. Reid found a puss moth crawling across her garbage can last year and took a professional interest, rubbing it with her finger to see what a sting would feel like. It didn't sting.

"Their spines are buried really well under all that fuzzy, furry hair. You really have to push against them to have them sting you," she said.

Reid has heard the sting described as itching burning. Others compare it to a bad bee sting. For most people, the worst of it lasts an hour or so. But people allergic to insect bites and other who are sensitive could have serious reactions, including respiratory shock, the Baylor Web site said.

Puss moths mostly are found by their lonesome in gardens or crawling across decks. The swarm that greeted Williams is pretty unusual, Reid said. But in the barbarous realm of insects, a slow-moving caterpillar like the puss moth isn't much of a threat. All it takes is a little caution, particularly for parents with bug-happy children. Know what it is before you let a child touch one.

Besides, it's not like there are lots of other caterpillars out there to worry about. Right?

"Oh yeah, we have a whole series of caterpillars that can sting," Reid said. "The slug caterpillar looks like a slug. The saddleback is very pretty, purplish-brown and a green back that looks like saddle and spines sticking out all over its body."

Reach Bo Petersen at bpetersen@postandcourier.com or 745-5852.