The woolly bear caterpillar has a reputation in folk wisdom for being able to predict winter weather.

There are many different caterpillars hanging around the yard and garden right now looking for places to overwinter or build a cocoon or chrysalis. One species in particular, known as the banded woolly bear caterpillar, is one of the most recognizable and has a reputation for predicting winter weather that has been passed down among generations. Like the groundhog, the woolly bear legend was disproved long ago but makes for a fun story.

Banded woolly bears are covered with short bristly hairs and are black on each end with a reddish-brown band in the middle. They are common throughout the U.S. from August to frost while they seek out shelter in plants and plant debris to stay for the winter.

Legend claims that more black than brown on the banded woolly bear’s body means that a severe winter is in store, and more brown than black represents a mild winter to come. Variations of the legend are that the bands represent the length of severe and mild weather sessions that will occur over the winter or claim the length of the bristles represents how long severe winter weather will last.

Research shows that the amount of black and brown on a banded woolly bear’s body varies with age and with the level of moisture in the area when the caterpillar was developing.

Banded woolly bears overwinter as caterpillars, build cocoons in spring, and transform into Isabella tiger moths. Moths lay eggs that hatch into the first generation of banded woolly bears in late spring. The first generation feeds on a wide variety of plant material without doing much damage and is rarely noticed. In midsummer, they build cocoons and turn into moths which lay another round of eggs and produce the more familiar second generation of wooly bear caterpillars.

Isabella moths also go mostly unnoticed. They are rather unremarkable with a 2-inch wingspan, a white or cream-colored body, and white or cream wings speckled with black.

Another species of fuzzy caterpillar that often appears in fall is the hickory tussock moth caterpillar. This caterpillar is bright white with a black line down the center of its back and a few pairs of black tufts of hair that are longer than the rest sticking out of the white hair. The hickory tussock moth caterpillar is sometimes confused with the banded woolly bear and sometimes believed to predict a very snowy winter but its markings are also incidental.

Hickory tussock moth caterpillars are reported to cause a rash or reaction similar to poison ivy in some people who have handled the caterpillars, so they are best left alone. Besides hickory trees, the caterpillars feed on walnut, ash, elm, maple, oak and other species.

Several other species of tiger moths have a caterpillar that might also be referred to as a woolly bear. Coloration ranges by species, although none is as cute and cuddly as the banded wooly bear.

The city of Vermillion, Ohio, hosts an annual Woollybear Festival to celebrate the banded woolly bear caterpillar. This year is the 44th for the event.

— Jennifer Smith is a former horticulture extension agent for K-State Research and Extension and horticulturist for Lawrence Parks and Recreation. She is the host of “The Garden Show.”