When I looked up the species account of the Salt Marsh Caterpillar, it was described as “…an exceedingly rapid crawler.” I was tickled to read this because it reassured me that it was not my imagination!

The second is a cattail caterpillar (Simyra insularis), the larva of Henry’s marsh moth.

I’d almost say the third one is the same as the first one (again, they’re extremely variable), though the photo’s angle makes it hard to say for certain–at least for me. I could only guess on that one.

The last one definitely looks like a fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea).

These are all great! What fun to discovery such vast diversity when you stop long enough to look in the most common places. And a lot of caterpillars are gorging so they can overwinter, so this is a good time to find them.