![]() Not all woolly caterpillars are true ‘woolly bears’ though! In field guides, they’re found among the “bristled” species, which include the all-yellow salt marsh caterpillar and several species in the tiger moth family.Woolly bears do not actually feel much like wool-they are covered with short, stiff bristles of hair.The tiger moth’s immature larva, called the black-ended bear or the woolly bear (and, particularly in the South, woolly worm), is one of the few caterpillars most people can identify.It’s common from northern Mexico throughout the United States and across the southern third of Canada. The Isabella is a beautiful winged creative with yellowish-orange and cream-colored wings spotted with black.Curran studied, the banded woolly bear, is the larval form of Pyrrharctia isabella, the Isabella tiger moth. Photo by SillyPuttyEnemies/Wikimedia Commons. The resulting publicity made the woolly worm one of the most recognizable caterpillars in North America (alongside the monarch caterpillar and tomato hornworm). Curran’s experiment, which he continued over the next eight years, attempted to prove scientifically a weather rule of thumb that was as old as the hills around Bear Mountain. Curran collected as many caterpillars as he could in a day, determined the average number of reddish-brown segments, and forecast the coming winter weather through a reporter friend at The New York Herald Tribune.ĭr. Curran, curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, took his wife 40 miles north of the city to Bear Mountain State Park to look at woolly bear caterpillars.ĭr. Watch this short video How the Woolly Bear Caterpillar Became “Famous” The wider the rusty brown sections (or the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. The more black there is, the more severe the winter. So, if you spot an entirely black caterpillar, it isn’t forecasting an apocalyptic winter!) ( Note: All-black, all-white, or yellow woolly caterpillars are not woolly bears! They are simply different species and are not part of the woolly worm lore. Often, it is black on both ends with rust-colored segments in the middle, although it may sometimes be mostly black or mostly rust. In terms of appearance, the caterpillar has 13 distinct segments of either rusty brown or black. In others, such as New England and the Midwest, people tend to call them “ woolly bears.” (Worm or not, at least we can all agree that they’re not bears!) Nonetheless, the name “worm” has stuck, at least in some parts of the United States. Just how true is this weather lore? Learn more about this legendary caterpillar and how to “read” the worm! The Woolly Worm Legendįirst of all, the “ woolly worm” is not a worm at all! It’s a caterpillar specifically, the larva of the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella). The more black there is, the more severe the winter. Variations include Woolly Worms weighted with lead underbodies or brass or tungsten beads.Woolly bear caterpillars-also called woolly worms-have a reputation for being able to forecast the coming winter weather. If their rusty band is wide, then it will be a mild winter. ![]() Woolly Worm flies are typically tied on number 4 to 10 3X long hooks. The popular colors are yellow, olives, browns, blacks. The underbody may be weighted with lead wire. The body is a chenille or fur body with a hackle palmered from the tail to the head of the fly. The original Woolly Worm fly was constructed without a tail, but the contemporary pattern has a yarn tail or hackle fiber tail. ![]() The Woolly Worm, depending the specific material used and how it is fished can be assumed to resemble large nymphs, more specifically stoneflies, dragonflies, damselflies, riffle beetle larvae or hellgrammites. Its real popularity however came when Don Martinez, a West Yellowstone, Montana fly tier commercialized the pattern in the 1950s. The original Woolly Worm pattern is said to have originated in the Ozarks as a bass fly. Today, Woolly Worms are tied in a variety of styles and colors to imitate a large aquatic nymphs such as stoneflies, dragonflies, damselflies or hellgrammites. Woolly Worms are typically fished in streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes for trout, bass, and panfish. Charles Brooks in Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout recommends the Woolly Worm as a general purpose nymph pattern in most western trout waters in any fly box. It is a popular pattern for freshwater game fish and was a very popular fly in the 1950s–1970s in the west. The Woolly Worm is an artificial fly commonly categorized as a wet fly or nymph and is fished under the water surface. Tied with various body, tail and hackle colors, weighted and unweighted Unknown, popularized by Don Martinez (1950s) Large aquatic nymphs of stoneflies, dragonflies, damselflies or hellgrammites Yellow and Grizzly Woolly Worm tied in its classic form
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