Professor says, pay attention to these caterpillars in gardening

Greenville, SC (Fox Carolina) – Warmer weather often means more time outdoors, and more time outdoors can sometimes mean more run -in with insects.

Some of these insects stab, if not always on purpose.

Eric Lopresti, deputy professor of biosciences at the University of South Carolina, says that the stitch of some caterpillars in SC can pain for weeks.

The caterpillar of the southern flannel moth is one of these insects. With the nickname “Puss Caterpillar” it is covered with hair -like bars full of poison.

Moths and butterflies usually only have adults, winged shapes for a few weeks.

“In general, caterpillars will be up to one year for several months, possibly up to one year,” says Lopresti.

Lopresti says that the stinging bars of the hangover caterpillar are not fatal or really dangerous, but still extremely painful when they are touched.

“We raised them in the laboratory and the students all thought they were the sweetest things in the world,” says Lopresti. “It had to be said strictly that they didn't have to touch them because they stab because they are really pretty adorable.”

According to Lopresti, stinging caterpillars are found during gardening or trimming trees.

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