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I found this caterpillar outside my back door. I've managed to identify it. I'm pretty sure it's an American Dagger Moth. My daughter wants to keep it and I'm not sure what to do with it. Right now I have it in a jar. I don't have an aquarium and I'm not sure what to keep it in, what to feed it, and how long before it starts a cocoon. Also, it seems to be very lazy. Does it sting/bite? Sorry for all the questions, I really know nothing about this little guy. Thanks!

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

Gee, somehow missed this post! Sorry!! What has become of your little cat???? I am guessing if you found it out your back door and not on a plant that it was probably looking for a place to pupate. What did you mean by lazy? The other possibility was that it was sick/dying or parasitized. Let me know the status and I will try to help. Btw, they do not sting. How old is your daughter?

lele

My daughter Sarah is 8. We found the caterpillar on the ground. I put it in a large plastic container with some tree branches and leaves and a few drops of water. What I meant by lazy was that it wasn't moving around much at first. Then it all of a sudden started stringing silk (not sure about terminology) onto the branches. After about a day it had formed a loose crysalis on the bottom of the container. Looking up thru the bottom you could see it inside there. After a few more days it had shed it's fuzz and it had what looked like the body of a moth without wings, but it looks deformed, like the body hasn't formed completely. It was moving at first, but it hasn't moved for a while now. I'm not sure that it's still alive and I don't want to disturb the container. But I don't want to get rid of it, if it is still alive. What do you think? We seem to have a lot of these cats in our backyard. Over the last few weeks I've seen many others.

Hi Jamie,

Well, your instincts were good! These are a bit different then say your luna or cecropia who make good solid cocoons. Many of the tufted cats incorporate their hairs in their cocoon which is what you are seeing as the loose cocoons. What you see inside is the pupa (equivalent of chrysalis of a butterfly) that looks like the moth with no wings. This is what it will spend the winter in before it emerges as a moth.

These have one generation in the north and 2 in the south (June-October) so depending where you live it may come out in the next few weeks/month or it will winter over and come out late spring early summer next year. For now I would just put a piece of screen, muslin or cheesecloth over the top secured with rubberband or string. Put it somewhere out of direct sun but where it can be exposed to normal day/night temps and day lengths (even more important than temps). If you are in the north then it will be a safe bet it will not be out until next year provided it is not exposed to excessively warm temps and unnaturally long days (indoors). You can winter it over in the crisper of your fridge, outside, in a garage on a porch, etc. If you keep in fridge it would only need a single drop of water every couple months. You can keep it in a small tupperware-type container. If you keep it in the plastic container in garage or somewhere you can spritz it lightly once a month or so just keep it safe from critters.

You are probably seeing a lot of these now as they may be wandering looking for a place to pupate.

here is a link with some photos of the pupa and cats. Where do you live? I am glad you are encouraging Sarah's interest in the 6-legged!
American Dagger