• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting
    • Composting Basics
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Growing Fruit
    • Growing Herbs
  • Recipes
    • Canning and Food Preservation
    • Vegetarian Meals
    • Salad Recipes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
  • Books & Classes
    • Classes
    • Books
    • Books for Christian Herbalists
  • About
    • Writer Jeanne Grunert
    • Advertise
    • Awards and Accolades
    • Privacy Policy

Ouch! Saddleback Caterpillar Stings

August 26, 2014 by Jeanne

Saddleback caterpillar stings hurt. Here’s how to recognize the saddleback caterpillar and treat saddleback caterpillar stings.
saddleback caterpillar

 

Do you see this ugly critter? It’s called a saddleback caterpillar, and until yesterday, I had no idea it even existed. I was working late when my husband came into the office holding his arm.

“Can you look at this?” he asked me, holding up his forearm and pointing to a red mark the size of a quarter. “I think I just got bit by something.”

It took him a minute to find that exact spot in the garden where he “got bit” by something. He quickly found the culprit clinging to a branch on a burning bush. “I just walked by the bush and my arm brushed against it,” he exclaimed. “It hurt like heck! Felt like a jelly fish sting.”

He brought the twig up to my office with the lumpy caterpillar clinging to it. It didn’t move. I photographed it, my mind reeling. I imaged having to show the photo to the emergency room doctors at the hospital. I quickly searched online for “stinging caterpillars in Virginia” and identified the creature.

Sure enough, the saddleback caterpillar produces a venom through the barbed spines on either end of its lumpy body that deliver a sting similar to jellyfish or bees. The venom can cause allergic reactions in some people, but fortunately, Hubby just had a red mark like a bee sting. We quickly applied tape to the area and ripped it off repeatedly, which also ripped off some of his arm hairs but seemed to do the trick removing the barbed stingers left in his skin. An ice pack and a few minutes later and he was good as new.

All I can think of is how many of these creatures are out there. A friend’s son was weeding her raspberry patch and encountered the puss moth caterpillar, and he had a massive allergic reaction and ended up in the emergency room.  I knew about black widow spiders and copperhead snakes, but stinging caterpillars???

There are more lurking in the garden.  For more, here is an information sheet from the Blue Ridge Poison Center.

Moral of the story: ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES WHEN GARDENING. And pants. And boots. And maybe a helmet, goggles, and astronaut suit…

 

Blog Signature butterfly

Jeanne
Jeanne

Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.

Tweet
Share
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: stinging caterpillars in virginia

Follow me on social media

Like
Follow
Follow
Follow
Follow
Previous Post: « How to Grow Great Carrots
Next Post: Fresh Food Wednesday: A Taste of the Mediterranean Recipe »

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • YouTube

Featured

logo of the american horticulture society

Home Garden Joy was featured by the American Horticultural Society on #plantchat.

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Writer Jeanne Grunert

cover of plan and build a raised bed garden

Find all my books on Amazon.com

Gardening Articles

Vegetable Gardening Tips and Tricks

17 year cicada

Do the 17 Year Cicadas Hurt Gardens?

strawberries are great for vertical gardening

Vertical Gardening to Expand Your Space

rosemary growing in containers for space saving gardens

5 EASY Space Saving Vegetable Garden Ideas

Footer

a plate of Sicilian pasta sauce with cauliflower

Vegan Cauliflower Recipe: Sicilian Sauce

I adapted this vegan cauliflower recipe for Sicilian sauce to my family’s low salt, plant based diet – and got great results. It’s easy to make, tastes wonderful, and gives us another meatless meal for Lent. If you are a Christian seeking Friday dinner ideas for Lent, or simply have a head of cauliflower you…

Read More

A stack or portobello mushrooms with garnish

Marinaded and Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks

I made these marinaded and grilled portobello mushroom steaks last night for dinner and they came out delicious! Alongside a pot of fresh vegetable soup and crusty, homemade Italian bread, it was a feast worthy of a king – but 100% vegetarian. Let’s get cooking! What Is a Portobello Mushroom? Portobello mushrooms are large brown…

Read More

a woman holding a popover with the cream interior revealed and two other popovers on a plate

Best Popover Recipe

This is the best popover recipe ever! It was easy to make and turned out delicious popovers. This was my first time making popovers, and I can’t remember the last time I had one, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. As usual, I turned to my trusty Fannie Farmer 13th Edition Cookbook and found…

Read More

Christmas present under the tree

Christmas Gifts for Gardeners: Your Holiday Gift Guide

Are you looking for Christmas gifts for gardeners? This is your holiday gift guide to find the perfect present for that special gardener in your life! Ready? Let’s go shopping! Christmas Gifts for Gardeners: Your Holiday Gift Guide Maybe you’re searching for the perfect Christmas gifts for gardeners in your life. Or perhaps you are…

Read More

Copyright © 2023 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme