Caterpillar Gang in Costa Rica’s Central Park

I see the guys from time to time in San Jose’s Parque La Sabana.

From a distance it looks like some kind of a giant scar on the side of the tree but….

As you get closer, you see that this brown mass is slowly moving, and once in a while, you’ll see one head raised, two heads and there’s another with their heads wiggling from side to side.

If you do go walking or running in Parque La Sabana in San Jose and come across these young caterpillars, please do not touch them as they are mildly toxic and may cause irritation should they come into contact with your skin.

Do you know what caterpillars these are? To win the prize, the winner needs to provide us with three pieces of information.

The very first person to email me 1: Correctly identifying these caterpillars, 2: Including a link where we can confirm this information and 3. Tell us what they are doing, will win our two DVD Gift Set Costa Rica Living & Retirement – Secrets To Happiness.

So you can cross off another Christmas gift from your list for that Costa Rica lover in your family.

These caterpillars are moths, the family they belong is: Saturniidae and the sub-family is: Hemileucinae.

The scientific name is: Hylesia lineata (Druce) and the species is distributed from Mexico to Panama.

The original host plant to this species are species of Guayaba and Cas, Psidium guajaba and Psidium spp. But in Parque La Sabana they are eating Eucaliptus, a non native plant, but this is not rare since Eucaliptus belong to the same family of the Guayaba, the Family (Myrtaceae), and probably the chemicals the caterpillars search for on the host plant also are in the eucaliptus.

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Written by Scott Oliver, author of 1. Costa Rica Real Estate Scams & How To Avoid Them, 2. How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa, 3. Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore and the Director of Costa Rica Living & Retirement – Secrets To Happiness, a new DVD which reveals all with 14 in depth interviews…

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.