Rockcliffe Park. This very colourful caterpillar was on some rose bushes. The gypsy moth is an introduced species from Eurasia, deliberately introduced around 1870 to see if they could be used to produce silk. They have since spread across North America. Female moths are flightless and look quite different from the smaller males. The caterpillars vary considerably as each instar is different. This is the late instar stage.