对于所有那些谁投了弃权票 (我要承担一些读者一定知道我们的神秘毛虫的身份, 但都懒得回应), 这里就是答案 (突破后).
The caterpillar is Hemileuca maia (蚕蛾). Those spines do indeed give a pretty nasty sting. Only a tiny bit superficially similar to a gypsy moth.
和, for those of you paying attention: The Genius of the Press before last also needed an answer, which is almost too obvious to state. Butterflies do not eat leaves, and especially monarchs do not eat eucalyptus. The reporter must have failed second grade (and subsequently hired at the Santa Barbara News Press).
holy crap.