The mythical woolly worm
Christine Tailer
By Christine Tailer
HCP columnist
Myths are stories often about natural occurrences that appear to have a factual basis but in reality, are based on fiction. Consider the tale of the woolly worm, which is actually the woolly bear caterpillar, and not a worm at all.
These black and brown lowly creatures are said to have the ability to predict the winter weather. Some may call them woolly bears or hedgehog caterpillars (they curl into a ball when threatened) or banded woolly worms or perhaps black-ended bears, but they are all one and the same.
A broad brown band across the caterpillar's middle is said to let us know that the coming winter will be mild. This so because the worm needs only wear a light sweater in order to stay warm, but the more black there is across its body, the colder the winter will be. This is because the caterpillar has now dressed in its thick, black winter hat and tall winter boots to better fight off the chill.
I've always been curious, however, why our creek valley worms never seem to agree on their winter attire, some wearing their light brown sweaters, while others are completely dressed in black, boots, hats and even with thick winter coats wrapping their midsections.
The woolly worm's mythical ability to predict the weather dates back to colonial times, but the myth gained true traction in 1948 when an entomologist named Howard Curran traveled 40 miles north of New York City to Bear Mountain. There, he and his wife spent the day collecting as many woolly worms as they could. Based on the worms' coloring, Dr. Curran then predicted the winter weather of 1948, and his prediction proved true. The story was covered by the New York Herald, and was in turn picked up by newspapers all across the country. Thus, the colonial myth became accepted as fact.
76 years later, we now know differently. The woolly worm's coloring is actually based on both the age of each particular caterpillar as well as its diet. The older (they can live up to 17 years) and better fed caterpillars will have grown larger than their younger counterparts, resulting in what appears to be a more narrow orange band across their middle sections.
The caterpillars also molt six times over the course of their long lives, and with each molting they lose more of their black coloring. Finally, after many years, and multiple molts, the caterpillars emerge from their winter sleep and spin a cocoon, from which they emerge only a few weeks later as orange tiger moths, beautiful creatures with orange and cream colored wings dotted with small black spots. As caterpillars they have lived for years. As moths, they live for only two weeks, just long enough to mate, lay eggs and die.
And so, even though the woolly worms’ coloring might not be able to predict the winter weather, I still find them quite intriguing. I have greeted many of them over the years that Greg and I have lived here in the creek valley, but curiously I don't recall ever having met a tiger moth. Perhaps this is because of the moths' short lifespan, but now that I know what to look for, I hope to be able to greet the short-lived tiger moth this coming spring.
And as to the winter weather in our neck of the woods? Well, we've already stacked one cord of firewood, but we are heading back out to bring in another. As usual, our creek valley woolly worms are dressed for all sorts of winter weather. You might say that Greg and I think it's a good idea to hedge our bets.
Christine Tailer is an attorney and former city dweller who moved several years ago, with her husband, Greg, to an off-grid farm in Ohio south-central Ohio. Visit them on the web at straightcreekvalleyfarm.com.