Salt Marsh Moth Caterpillar - Estigmene acrea

Very hairy orange-tan caterpillar with long, soft setae projecting from its body. Its face was mostly black. These caterpillars are highly variable in color.

Larvae feed on a huge variety of weedy plants, including ground cherry, milkweed, dog fennel, and mallow, in addition to crops and trees such as alfalfa, asparagus, bean, beet, cabbage, carrot, celery, clover, corn, cotton, lettuce, onion, pea, potato, soybean, sugarbeet, tobacco, tomato, turnip, alder, apple, cherry, elderberry, pear, and poplar.