If the tail is dark, it would indicate the end of winter will be severe. If the head of the caterpillar is dark, it would indicate the beginning of winter will be cold and severe. The position of the dark band is supposed to tell you which part of the winter will be the coldest. If there is a long band of brown through the middle of the caterpillar, the winter will be milder.

Adobe Stock How to “read” the Woolly Bear CaterpillarĪccording to the folklore, the winter will be colder and snowier the longer the black bands are on each caterpillar. The story was distributed, and since then, it has been a fun indicator of winter weather forecasting through folklore.

He used the area around Bear Mountain, New York and counted the brown bands on 15 different caterpillars, and then made a prediction for winter. Common throughout most of North American, that moth flutters yellow-orange and ecru wings lightly marked with darker stripes and spots. Home Outdoors What Is a Woolly Bear Caterpillar Karuna Eberl Updated: Feb. The weather folklore of woolly bear caterpillars has been around since colonial times, according to the National Weather Service.Īccording to a story from the New York Herald Tribune, the idea grew after Dr. The wooly bear caterpillar, also called the black-ended bear and banded wooly bear, actually is the larvae of the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella). How does La Nina impact Ohio and Pennsylvania winter weather?

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