www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi there,

This question might get get asked a lot but are there any caterpillars out there that are harmful, irritating or poisonous to the touch in humans?

The hairy ones don't look that inviting but is that because somewhere I am have evolved an aversion to picking them up because they might be dangerous to me?

I heard that there were some invasive species that are poisonous but does this go for the native species? Might there be irritating secretions or structures other than hairs these animals use?

Sorry for all the questions,

Harry

Hi Harry, and welcome.

To the best of my knowledge, no British butterfly caterpillars represent environmental health hazards in any way. However, several moth species have irritant larvae. I shall leave it to the moth experts in this group to tell you which!

Guy

although i am not a moth expert i read that this hairy caterpillar ( the Drinker ) has highly irritant hairs:



there are quite a few around at the moment

charles

thanks,

I suppose what I'm really asking is whether all caterpillars are safe to pick up and handle...?

H

I have read that the processional caterpillers (pine and oak) have particularly unpleasant hairs and that there have been fatalities due to workmen having had their sandwiches under a tree, ingesting hairs and developing an abscess somewhere nasty - impossible to verify 100% (?), but sounds feasible. Certainly, the consumption of quite small amounts of human hair has also been fatal (a favoured method of poisoning unfaithful husbands in some parts of the World...) so for caterpiller hairs to be lethal doesn't sound too improbable.

I lived in a house in the middle of pine forest for 8 years in North Italy and the story was certainly extant amongst the locals; once a year they would appear with shotguns and blow the silk sacks containing the larvae out of the pine trees, and then burn them with petrol on the ground.

Chris