The longer the summer, the more brown hairs, the shorter the summer, the fewer brown hairs. As the year progresses the black hairs start to turn that characteristic reddish-brown in the center. All woolly bears start with a body of black hair in the spring.

The colors of the woolly bear may be an indicator of how long and cold the previous winter had been. In other words, the woolly bear cannot predict the severity of the winter. And after several rigorous scientific studies, where they measured the width of the orange band on the caterpillar’s middle and then compared that to the ensuing winter records it was discovered the colors on the caterpillar have no bearing at all on forecasting weather. So is this myth true? Fortunately, entomologists were also curious if this little fluffy caterpillar could be a seer of winter’s fate. Legend says the coming winter will be cold if the woolly bear has a narrow, orange middle band, and the winter will be warm if the band is wide. And it is the width of this orange band that folks say can predict the oncoming winter.

The woolly worms that are at the center of the winter forecasting legend are black at each end with a reddish-brown band in the middle. There are several species of caterpillar that are commonly called “woolly worms”. Okay, so Muppets and childhood aside, one the biggest rural wives' tales is how the colors of the woolly bear caterpillar (or wooly worm to some people) can predict if we will have a cold winter or a mild winter.īefore we get to debunking this old myth, we need to back up a bit. I know it may seem to be an odd comparison, but I thought of this as a child and to this day, it still pops into my head every time I see a woolly bear caterpillar. I imagined the woolly bear caterpillar has the same loveable optimism as Fozzie despite being a terrible comedian telling groan-worthy jokes.

As a child, the name woolly bear reminded me of the Muppet Fozzie bear. I have always been fond of the woolly bear caterpillar.

Woolly bear caterpillars are hurriedly crossing the roads this time of year.

Download white wooly caterpillar