Tussock Moth Caterpillars

 

I saw many of these caterpillars today feeding on milkweed plants growing in the Connetquot River State Park. I was amused when I saw them up close because they look like they have scrubbing brush bristles attached to them. They were nonstop eating machines, devouring many of the poisonous leaves on the milkweed plants. Fortunately for the Tussock Moth and Monarch Butterfly caterpillar, the milkweed toxins have no ill effect on them and it even protects them by causing them, through the digestion of the milkweed, to become poisonous. I was told that the orange color, which both the Tussock Moth and Monarch Butterfly caterpillars display, is a warning signal to caterpillar predators that they are toxic and should be not be eaten.