Saw a lot of these this year.

My guess would be salt marsh caterpillar.

What plant are they on?

That's an iris but I saw a bunch in my garden this year. Didn't look like they were doing too much damage so I just let them be. I was just curious what they turn into as well.

Could also be a Yellow Woolly Bear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

Sorry to just barge in. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Catmint. I live in Maryland in the DC area. I've been gardening for the pollinators for about a year now. I've been active in another gardening forum but am new to ATP.

I think whether it's a salt marsh or a yellow woolly cat depends on how furry and big it is. The yellow woolly cat is one of the Tiger Moth species, and it grows into the Virginian Tiger Moth. It tends to be on the larger, furrier size. The salt marsh cat tends to be smaller and less uniformly furry looking--you can see the individual setae sticking out.

Sounds like this one's been recognized, cool.

For future reference, knowing what a caterpillar is eating can narrow the possibilities greatly. There are indiscriminate munchers, like army worms (which look nothing like the cat in question,) but most can only eat a few different plants. Monarch caterpillars can only eat Asclepias plants. I never bother unknown cats either unless they are on a very small plant I'm unwilling to sacrifice to munching, or if I'm able to determine that they are going to be a ubiquitous pest moth, (like army worm or cabbage white,) not a butterfly.

Looking at the list of caterpillars known to munch on a particular plant usually makes the cat pretty easy to ID (or at least rule-out any possible butterflies.)

Hi Catmint, welcome to ATP!

Thanks, Purpleinopp! That's a good idea to look at the host first and then drill down from there.

Here's one possible match for a caterpillar that hosts on iris:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Excellent!

Searching by host plant is the only way I've ever been able to ID caterpillars, though probably not a scientific method. Others might have an easier time with another way. A pleasant number of them end up being butterflies though, so fun to do!

It makes a lot of sense!

Well I will say it's probably closest to the yellow wooly but this wasn't just on irises it was on lilies, fencing, and other plants too. Didn't seem to be doing too much damage as I think the Japanese beetles were the main culprits. Thanks for all the help.