Caterpillar ID, please

We have some caterpillars happily munching my sacrificial sunflowers in my south-east Texas garden. I can’t find their match online, so I have no idea who my backyard buddies might be- or if they are are buddies. Does anyone recognize these guys?

I may be wrong, though I feel that most fuzzy caterpillars transform into moths.

If those caterpillars were munching my veggies I would knock them into a pail of water where they will drown.

I have read that some fuzzy caterpillars sting thus the reason for knocking them into the pail of water.

I hope someone know what these will transform into.

There seems to be quite a variation in colour between the two caterpillars. I found this website that seems quite helpful for identification and the closest matches seem to be



Hyphantria cunea, FALL WEBWORM MOTH



Heliothis virescens Fabricius TOBACCO BUDWORM



and Haploa clymene CLYMENE MOTH .

(all pictures from above website)
Do any of those seem likely?

Caterpillars are notoriously difficult to ID even from live specimens -- key features include head capsule morphology (not clear in photos), number of fleshy prolegs (rear feet - not photographed), presence of hairs, and only sometimes patterning. As caterpillars grow, the patterning can change substantially.

Texas A&M have put out an ID guide to different pest caterpillars here. Fortunately, your caterpillar doesn't key out on this list, meaning it's probably not a major agricultural pest.

My best guess is that it's a moth larva in the family Noctuidae. There are a few other families with heavily spined/hairy caterpillars (e.g. tent caterpillars), so take this tentative ID with a grain of salt! The family Noctuidae contains both harmless moths as well as major agricultural pests. The majority of species don't do major damage, and a few are serious problems (e.g. the gypsy moth). If you can take some photos of the head, and a good side-on view, I'd suggest posting to iNaturalist or BugGuide to get a second opinion -- heaps of great entomologists are on those websites who might be able to help ID your sunflower-eaters!

I’ve been handling them with no stinging or itching, so I don’t think they’re toxic. They’re certainly chill.
They seem most similar to the webworm, but I don’t see any webbing behavior from them.
They do seem to come two main color variations- one more black and the other more yellow- or may be 2 different caterpillars.

Thanks! I’ll try to recapture one and count its legs and photograph its face. My phone has had some trouble focusing on something that small close enough to see detail, but maybe I’ll get lucky

I got pictures of feet and I was able to count them. Couldn’t get a clear picture of the face, but it’s black with symmetrical yellow marking and small black mouth parts.
They have 3 front pairs of legs and 4 pairs of fleshy hind legs with yellow foot pads. Then theres a final pair of “legs” which also have yellow pads.
I’ll let y’all know if I get a response on any entomology forums. Thanks!