Florida's Stinging Puss Caterpillar

These guys look really cute... and sting like heck:

This fellow was wandering about in my front yard so I carefully caught him on a leaf so Rachel could take some photos.

Don't touch them. The burning pain is incredible. They can seriously mess you up... we're talking spider bite, pain-up-your-arm, shakiness, hornets, fire, etc. etc. etc.

Just watch out. They're easy to miss and they're hanging out in the woods this time of year.

This caterpillar will eventually pupate and become a Southern Flannel Moth. For more on the stinging puss caterpillar, check this page out.

Florida has a few stinging caterpillars but none of them measure up to the puss caterpillar. They take the pain cake.