The Woolly Bear Myth

Have you heard of the Woolly Bear Myth? Most people in the Midwest have heard it one time or another. The idea is that you can forecast how long the coming winter will be by looking at a Woolly Bear Caterpillar’s stripes. Really?

So here’s the idea. This time of year, you simply go out looking for Woolly Bear Caterpillars. These are the ones that are black on the ends and orange in the middle. Perfect Halloween critter! According to the folk tale, the longer the woolly bear’s black bands are, the colder, longer, snowier… you name it, the winter is going to be. Well, because science ruins everything, scientists tell us, that’s just wrong. ;)

Now the real story is that the coloring has more to do with how old the caterpillar is, what species and what it’s been eating. In fact, if the little guy has had a good year, it will grow bigger and when it grows bigger the orange bit in the middle gets shorter.

I suppose you could say that the better the summer is for the caterpillar the worse the winter is going to be, or simply that a good summer brings on a bad winter. Then you can cut out the Woolly Bears altogether! Of course, that doesn’t work either!

Oh, and let me spoil another story about the Woolly Bear, it won’t become a Monarch butterfly. I know, heartbreaking! Woolley Bears become Isabella Tiger Moths.

So why am I spoiling your Woolley Bear fun? Well, because I was out enjoying the warm sun yesterday and came across 4 of them on the trails. I wondered if they all are going to agree on what sort of winter we were going to have… Hmmm.

Well, what do you think?

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References –

Isabella Tiger Moth – https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Pyrrharctia-isabella
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
https://www.almanac.com/content/woolly-bear-caterpillars-and-weather-prediction
National Weather Service
https://www.weather.gov/arx/woollybear
Insect Identification
https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Banded-Woolly-Bear-Caterpillar-Moth