A herd of crawling insects has invaded campus, and students have taken notice.These caterpillars are the larvae stage of the live oak tussock moth, or Orgyia leucostigma. The species is experiencing a population boom this year, said Bret Elderd, assistant professor in biological sciences. The male moths are a gray brown with darker wavy bands and a white spot. The female moths are flightless and pale gray.”I’m afraid of them,” said Ann Pulling, kineseology junior. “I was watching one yesterday with my friend, and then another one fell on him. He screamed and made me brush it off him.”Elderd said booms usually last a couple of years, and crashes are often brought about by a species-specific disease that kills a large part of the population.  “You see these same population cycles in a lot of insects,” Elderd said. The unusually cold winter caused the caterpillars to appear later in the year, said Timothy Schowalter, head of the entomology department.Schowalter said the caterpillars are normally out at this time of the year, feeding on the oak trees and other plants common to campus.The caterpillars are known to be destructive to plant life in large numbers.”I don’t think they are so scary,” said Michelle Reulet, ISDS freshman. “One fell on me when I was sitting in front of Coates. It didn’t look dangerous, but I didn’t want to squish it, so I just put it on a leaf.”The caterpillars are harmless, but people should be cautious when handling them. The hairs can cause allergic reactions in some people and have hooks on the ends, according to the LSU Ag Center Web site. The hairs can cause severe irritation if they get into the eyes or nose. This makes some people believe they have been stung, according to the Web site.—————Contact Mandy Francois at [email protected]