Saddle-back Moth

 A word to the wise.  This is the moth of the Saddle-back Moth.  It is tiny.  Do not touch it.  

The other evening I went out on my deck and blithely grabbed a garden trowel.  Unbeknownst to me, this very little creature was crawling along it.  The pad of the end of my index finger brushed against it's bristly antennae.  HOLE MOTHER OF A VENGEFUL GOD!!!!  The pain was off the charts.  Worse by far than any Bee, worse that any Wasp, even worse that those evil little pointless ground Hornets.  The venom built up quickly and in no time it was sending shots of pain down my finger and across the back of my hand.  Needless to say, I was quite alarmed.

I did a google search, followed the protocols, freaked out over the possible reactions, and then waiting.  It took about an hour for the pain to begin to subside.  With great relief, my finger did not swell up, or develop a rash, I didn't not have trouble breathing or go into anaphylaxis.  All of which were indicated as possible, and some instances probably outcomes from such an encounter.  How have I managed to make it halfway through the 60th year of life on this amazing planet and not come across one of these little shits?

This map shows their range in the United States.

This second, slightly larger one appeared today.  Four days after the first encounter.  I can assume one of these moths laid a clutch of eggs somewhere around my garden workbench, and they've hatched...