Host Plants - Yellow woollybear caterpillars feed on a wide range of garden, field, and ornamental crops as well as weeds. Some vegetable hosts include asparagus, bean, beet, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, corn, eggplant, onion, parsnip, pea, potato, pumpkin, radish, rhubarb, salsify, squash, sweet potato, and turnip. Plants may be skeletonized by heavy infestations. Life History - This insect overwinters in the pupal stage. In spring, moths emerge and mate.
Females soon deposit clusters of eggs on leaves.
After about 7 days, the eggs hatch. Young larvae feed in colonies on the underside of leaves. As they mature, caterpillars disperse and feed on more exposed sites. After feeding for about 4 weeks, woollybears are fully grown and begin to seek sheltered places in which to pupate. Here, caterpillars spin cocoons and spend the next 1 to 2 weeks transforming into moths.