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Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion.

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Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.
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Can someone please ID this caterpillar

Sun 17 Feb, 2013 5:13 pm

P2140555_cr.jpg

Found wandering across the clothes line.
He was very striking.
regards

Re: Can someone please ID this caterpillar

Sun 17 Feb, 2013 10:37 pm

Almost looks like the Spitfires that we used to get in the house I grew up in. They used to chill in the gum trees out back.

I'm probably wildly wrong though...

Re: Can someone please ID this caterpillar

Mon 18 Feb, 2013 5:47 am

It looks like a tussock moth of some sort.

we used to get these ones (below) at our old house, usually on the lime tree and at a certain time of year a different type, a smaller darker species, would turn up en masse, dropping from the trees by a strand of silk. They would be everywhere and would cause a pretty strong irritation to the skin if touched which was tricky as hundreds would be dangling at diferent heights from the trees...

black-tussock-moth-caterpillar.jpg
black-tussock-moth-caterpillar.jpg (129.66 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

Re: Can someone please ID this caterpillar

Mon 18 Feb, 2013 8:07 pm

Thanks.
I'd go along with a Tussock Moth in some form.
Spitfire associate with Koalas don't they? Read that somewhere.

We occasionally get the smaller version of my clothes line hopper and en masse.
Not very nice when working in their territory.
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