Scalloped Sack-Bearer caterpillar
This is an early instar of the Scalloped Sack-Bearer moth larva, Lacosoma chiridota. It situates itself midrib on the upper side of an oak leaf, having built a silken net over itself and curiously, fastens its own fecal pellets to this net. While living under this shelter it alternately feeds and rests. The caterpillar eats leaf material on each side of the midrib. Later instars (the stages between molts) form a tighter shelter by bonding leaves together with silk.
Scalloped Sack-Bearer caterpillar
This is an early instar of the Scalloped Sack-Bearer moth larva, Lacosoma chiridota. It situates itself midrib on the upper side of an oak leaf, having built a silken net over itself and curiously, fastens its own fecal pellets to this net. While living under this shelter it alternately feeds and rests. The caterpillar eats leaf material on each side of the midrib. Later instars (the stages between molts) form a tighter shelter by bonding leaves together with silk.