Two weeks ago on Mary’s Peak in Oregon’s Coast Range, Julia and I found a couple of these caterpillars sporting a striking Halloween color scheme:
A quick internet search for “orange and black caterpillar” revealed them to be larvae of the Cinnabar Moth (Erebidae: Tyria jacobaeae), which has an equally striking adult form. Today being Halloween, I figured I’d pull together some other orange and black bugs we’ve seen recently.
A Bordered Plant Bug (Largidae: Largus) at the Oregon Dunes:
A Conchuela Bug (Pentatomidae: Chlorochroa ligata) at the UC Davis botanical garden (sitting atop a walnut leaf mined by Stigmella longisacca (Nepticulidae)):
And also at the botanical garden, a black jumping spider (Salticidae)…
…with an orange ghost face on its abdomen.
BugTracks 
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Hello Charlie,
Great blog as always. Like the halloween theme. The black jumping spider with orange “face” is Phidippus audax. Depending on region of the country the spots can also be white (here in N.E.) or more of a yellow.
Cheers,
Joe Warfel
Thanks Joe! Those green chelicerae reminded me of P. audax, but it hadn’t occurred to me that this could actually be the same species.