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Plate 6 · Gentle Hands

Look, don't touch

This plate compares a monarch caterpillar, which doesn't sting, with three that do. Don't use it to decide whether a caterpillar is safe to touch. The asp, perhaps the most common stinging caterpillar in Texas, turns up on oaks, pecans, elms, hackberries and dwarf yaupon; none of our sources lists milkweed. It looks soft enough to pet.

Watercolor of four caterpillars: a smooth monarch caterpillar with black, white and yellow bands on a milkweed leaf; a furry tan and orange asp, the southern flannel moth caterpillar, on a twig; a small saddleback caterpillar with a bright green saddle, a brown oval spot and spiny horns at both ends; and a large pale green io moth caterpillar with a maroon and white stripe along its side and clusters of branched spines.
  1. Monarch: doesn't sting; a grown-up identifies it before anyone holds itEven black, white and yellow bands and two pairs of soft black feelers. Fine touch hairs, but no stinging spines. Found on milkweed. After it's a few days old, hold it as little as possible until it's over an inch long, and leave it alone when it's still, molting or hanging in a J.
  2. Asp (southern flannel moth): never touchA furry teardrop; Texas A&M says they "resemble a tuft of cotton or fur." Hidden spines give intense, throbbing pain within minutes. Texas poison-center stings peak in July and in October and November.
  3. Saddleback: never touchA brown body with a bright green "saddle blanket" and an oval purplish-brown spot in the middle. Spiny horns at both ends sting.
  4. Io moth: never touchPale green, with a maroon stripe edged in white along each side, and clusters of branched spines that sting.

Smooth and stripy on milkweed: gently, with a grown-up. Fuzzy or spiky: no! Stop, don't touch, and call a grown-up. Not sure what it is? Don't touch it.

If someone is stung, gets sap or bleach in an eye, or swallows something

Follow what Poison Help or the doctor tells you.

Poison Help: 1-800-222-1222. Free, 24 hours; from Austin it connects to the Texas Poison Center Network. Call even if the child seems fine.

Call 911 if someone collapses or faints, has a seizure, can't be woken, has trouble breathing or swallowing, or has swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat.

Pets: your vet or an emergency vet, or ASPCA Animal Poison Control, (888) 426-4435, 24 hours (a consultation fee may apply).

Stung by a fuzzy or spiky caterpillar

  1. Don't rub.† Get the caterpillar off with a stick, not bare hands.
  2. Skin only: lay sticky tape over the spot and lift it off. Repeat with fresh tape. Never put tape on an eye.
  3. Wash gently with soap and water.
  4. Ice pack wrapped in a cloth: 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off.
  5. Call Poison Help. Ask before giving any medicine, and what dose fits your child's weight. No aspirin for children.†
  6. Go now to urgent care or the emergency room, or call your pediatrician's after-hours line, for: a sting in or near an eye (rinse it with water first), blisters, hives spreading over the body, vomiting, a child who is pale or drowsy, or pain still severe after an hour.
  7. If the child has prescribed epinephrine and any 911 sign appears, use it, then call 911. Don't wait for an antihistamine to work.

Fire ants†

Move the child away and brush the ants off; they cling. Wash, and hold a cool wet cloth on the stings. Don't scratch or pop the white pustules that form in a day or two. Many stings, hives, or any 911 sign: call 911.

Milkweed sap, or bleach, in an eye

  1. Don't rub. Start rinsing right away with room-temperature water. Every second counts.
  2. Rinse for at least 15 minutes by the clock, longer if it still burns. Small child: wrap them in a towel, hold them at the kitchen sink, and let the tap run onto the bridge of the nose so the water flows across the eye; or pour slowly from a cup. Hold the eyelid open.
  3. Contact lens: once the water is running, take it out if it hasn't washed out, and keep rinsing. Don't put that lens back in.†
  4. Call Poison Help, or have another adult call while you rinse.
  5. If the eye still hurts after rinsing, vision is blurry, or light hurts: emergency room now, tonight. Say what got in the eye, "milkweed sap" or "bleach." Milkweed sap gets mistaken for pink eye.
  6. If redness or soreness starts later, even the next morning: see an eye doctor that day, and say what got in the eye.

Sap on skin

Take off clothing with sap on it. Wash with soap and running water. Keep hands off the eyes until they're washed. Call Poison Help if pain, a rash or blisters don't settle.

† Standard first-aid practice, not yet matched to a published source.

A child ate or chewed milkweed (leaf, flower, pod, seed or sap), a caterpillar, lantana berries or any garden plant, or drank the jar water

  1. If the child is awake and swallowing normally: take out what's left, wipe the mouth with a soft wet cloth, and give a few sips of water.
  2. Don't make them throw up.
  3. Call Poison Help now, even if the child seems fine. A small taste of milkweed usually causes no symptoms; they'll tell you what to watch for over the next few hours.
  4. Drowsy, hard to wake, choking, having a seizure, or trouble breathing: call 911, and give nothing by mouth.

Bleach swallowed

  1. If the child is awake and swallowing: a small sip of water or milk.
  2. Don't make them throw up.
  3. Call Poison Help.

Bleach on skin: rinse under running water for 15 minutes. Bleach in an eye: the eye steps above.

General guidance, not medical advice. The sources are listed under this plate. The plate’s own page prints with this card on it.

Sources: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension (ENT-3010 and 2025 guidance); poison.org; Lu et al., J. Emerg. Med. (2026) on delayed eye symptoms; Forrester, Texas Department of State Health Services, Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (2018): 3,484 asp stings reported to Texas poison centers from 2000 to 2016, 59% in October and November, 91% at home. Don't spray Bt for asps near milkweed: Texas A&M notes it also kills the non-stinging caterpillars. First aid on the card: Poison Control (poison.org), the Missouri Poison Center, the Texas Poison Center Network, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, MedlinePlus, the American Academy of Pediatrics (healthychildren.org), and the CDC on household bleach. First aid is general guidance, not medical advice. For a sting or poisoning, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222.

Don’t rely on a drawing alone to identify a living thing or to decide whether it is safe to touch.

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