Claims about a bug nicknamed the "
A video on Facebook showed the seemingly gelatinous, opaque, bulbous insects crawling across greenery:
These "sliding beans of jelly" are indeed real.
David Cheng, a researcher at the University of Florida's Department of Entomology and Nematology, said that while he can't confirm the exact species shown in some of the social media photos, the "jellybean-like caterpillars" are a real species, also known as slug moths, and they belong to the scientific family Limacodidae.
"Unlike jellybeans, most caterpillars in this family don't always look cute — they can be spiky and even a bit scary," Cheng said.
"Their spikes can be irritating and even venomous when touched — so better not touch them!"
(Cheng Shih/Public Domain)
The entomologist group Butterflies and Moths of North America writes on its website that there are roughly 50 species in this family found in North America. Limacodidae larvae can be "naked or densely hairy" and "move like slugs, gliding on their prolegs and suckers."
So-called "jellybean caterpillars" metamorphosize into "small to medium-sized moths with a stout body and dense covering of hairs and scales," writes North Carolina State Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dark-brown front wings are held over the front body and are typically "marked with an irregular spot of contrasting color."