Maybe on a midday walk to check the mailbox or during a hike while staying 6 feet away from others, you’ve run forehead first into a green caterpillar that is no bigger than a couple grains of rice, swinging from a nearly invisible silk string.

Or maybe you’ve gotten to your front door and realized you had a handful of those tiny critters stuck on your shirt or pants.

Either way, the caterpillars are now out and about in Central Texas, which is likely seeing more of them because of a mild winter.

The caterpillars, known as cankerworms, can be green or light brown, among other colors, and typically emerge in March and April, said Ross Winton, an invertebrate biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The cankerworms usually bunker down in soil at the end of spring when they make a chrysalis and remain in the ground through the winter.

Then, moths hatch from the chrysalis the following spring and lay eggs in trees.

Caterpillars hatch from the eggs, and the cycle repeats, Winton said.

More moths were able to survive in the ground over winter because Central Texas had warmer than normal temperatures. That’s why it might seem like you can’t walk anywhere these days without bumping into the little guys, swinging in the air.

The winter was unusually dry, with just 0.83 inch of rainfall for December. The normal average temperature for December is 62.7 degrees, but this year’s December had an average temperature of 68 degrees.

Normally, January has an average temperature of 61.5 degrees, but this year it was up to 67.4 degrees. Even February, whose normal average temperature is 65.2 degrees, had an average temperature this year of 66 degrees, according to weather records.

Temperatures got hot faster in the winter, with a high of 81 degrees on Feb. 2.

March was also particularly rainy with 4.01 inches of rainfall recorded at Camp Mabry. The month’s average temperature was 77.8 degrees, compared with its normal of 72.2 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

"A lot more survived over the winter, and now that we’re getting these nice rains, a lot of things are greening up," Winton said.

Once the moths hatch, females crawl around waiting for males to mate, Winton said. The females have to crawl because they never fully develop wings, he said.

The female moths climb up tree trunks and lay eggs in tree branches and crevices, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service said. It’s possible for the moths to mate before or after the female climbs the tree.

The eggs hatch when trees start to bud with green foliage and leaves.

The caterpillars start to feed on the leaves right after hatching, according to the AgriLife Extension Service. They feed for three to four weeks before they lower themselves to the ground via silk string to get into the soil.

The caterpillars will also use their string to move from one tree branch to another, Winton said.

"If all the caterpillars are eating in one place, they’ll go to new places to find new food sources," he said.

Food sources for the caterpillars include all kinds of trees — oaks, elms and hackberries. The caterpillars don’t usually defoliate trees so much that it’s detrimental to the trees, Winton said.

The trees typically can survive and leaf out again, AgriLife said.

While the caterpillars can be a nuisance, they make a great food source for birds. Spring is the time of year a lot of birds come through Texas as they migrate, while others start to get nests going, Winton said.

"I think just pointing out that, you know, this isn’t something to freak out about and worry about or dissuade you from going outside and enjoying some of those spaces and your social distancing hikes," Winton said. "I mean, they don’t bite."