Warning! Watch Out for The Saddleback Caterpillar (Acharia stimulea)
If you grow roses with limited–if any–use of pesticides, then you’ve probably lost any squeamishness when it comes to squishing things with your bare hands. It’s become second nature for me, when I’m strolling through the roses, to squish any sawfly larvae or aphids I might find on the leaves while I’m enjoying the flowers. Well, after what happened to me last summer with this Saddleback Caterpillar (Acharia stimulea) seen above, I’m going to be much more careful and consider this my PSA to all of you!
So, what happened? I was casually walking past this sweet little Hybrid Perpetual rose I had growing in a container and, noticing pin-prick holes on the leaves, reached for the leaf to flip it over so I could squish what I thought was just another rose slug or something. That’s when I GOT THE STING OF A LIFETIME. Yes, underneath that leaf was the venomous Saddleback Caterpillar who was just chillin’, minding his own, when my clumsy finger brushed the top of it’s spiny bristles. It was barely a glance, but there was enough venom pricked into my finger that it felt like it was on fire for several hours afterward. I’ve been stung by my bees and this was much worse.
Let’s zoom in on this little guy so you can get a good look at those bristles….
Afterward, I carefully relocated the caterpillar to the forest and was extra vigilant about what I was touching in the garden from then on out. A further reminder to always be wearing gloves!
A beautiful creature but definitely one to watch out for. To learn more about the Saddleback Caterpillar, check out this useful information page.
I’m sorry you went through that! I was stung by a saddleback 15 years ago when reaching under a plant to pick up a stray nut. Definitely hurts worse than a wasp/bee, and I only brushed my arm against it– can’t imagine what it would hurt like to touch it directly. I was subsequently afraid of pipevine swallowtail caterpillars, which look like little demons, but which I now know are completely harmless.
Gracious, what a story! It’s funny, I posted this on Instagram and a bunch of people have said they’ve experienced the same (with one woman’s husband needing to go to the ER after being stung.) I had never heard of saddlebacks until last summer…but now I know!
Wow. I have never seen one of those. I’ll watch out for it!
My husband and I just returned from a rose convention (ARS Yankee District) on Cape Cod. One of the talks was “Rose Insects of New England” by Baldo the bug expert from Sacramento, CA. He began by saying he usually got great satisfaction from squishing bad bugs with his bare hands until he did it with a stink bug! Then he said not to do it with this one either, and showed a photo of the saddleback caterpillar, which I recognized from your blog. I haven’t seen any recent posts on your blog, and I miss them. January’s Celebration of Roses was outstanding! I hope you’re OK, just busy doing stuff for your new home and garden.
Hi Liz! It’s so funny b/c people keep telling me they’re suddenly hearing about that caterpillar in gardening circles like it’s really making the rounds right now. Well I’m glad that everyone is getting warned!
Thank you for letting me know that you enjoyed the January CofR. 🙂 I think I might do it again next year. On that subject, I haven’t felt particularly inspired to blog recently, although I miss it, because there is legit nothing to look at in this new garden. It’s a plain back yard that until recently was covered in snow and now is a pile of mud. I hope to have something fun to share soon but first it needs to stop being freezing!
Thanks again for stopping!
~Laurie