caterpillars

I Will Not Kill It

| Flower Roberts

I know that everyone pulls these off their tomato plants and kills them.

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I know they munch on the tomato leaves and poop on the plant.

That’s how I find them.

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There is something that might make you pause before you murder one.

These big Tobacco Hornworm caterpillars (Manduca quinquemaculata)

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turn into large Carolina Sphinx moths.

These moths come at sunset to my Four-o’clock flowers.

They are spectacular and magical. They are worth every leaf they eat.

Sometimes eggs of a parasitic wasp are laid on them. Ouch!

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So be a good host to these giant, green munchers,

later you will be rewarded by flyers that look a lot like fairies.

https://floweralley.org/?s=Four+O%27clocks

Flow

If you plant it, they will come.

| Flower Roberts

I have treasures I do not own.

I have waited for years for Monarchs to come to my Butterfly weed.

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Finally, they came and laid eggs on the Asclepias tuberosa.

Now there are caterpillars eating the Asclepias leaves as they should.

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I hope they pupate where I can watch over them.

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(I do not interfere with wildlife unless necessary.)

I am thrilled they are here. They are treasured guests.

I hope the cycle continues for years to come.

More Monarchs…More caterpillars…

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Thanks to some seeds that I saved from another garden.

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My dreams are small. My treasures are alive.

Life is precious.

 

Flower

 

Following Caterpillars

| Flower Roberts

This is so much easier than chasing butterflies.

My three Saddlebacks, Acharia stimulea, have stayed on the coffee tree for weeks now.

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They are slowly getting bigger as they nibble leaves away from end to stem.

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I caught a photo of one just as it molted.

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One paused on top of a bean for hours.

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I have been stung several times trying to find them. I pester pests.

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They have a face on their backside to trick predators.

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I will miss them when they pupate.

It’s been one of my daily tasks to check on them.

Beautiful but toxic.

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Not everything cute should be petted.

Flower

 

My Favorite Caterpillar

| Flower Roberts

I feel fortunate that I found these little Saddleback Caterpillars.

They were not in their usual place, the underside of leaves on the banana trees.

This year they are on my coffee tree.

I only found them because I was removing scale from the underside of the coffee leaves.

There are three. All are small.

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This one is not much bigger than those nasty scale.( brown dot on the left)

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They hide under the leaves and crawl along the stem to another leaf.

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Saddleback Caterpillar, Sabine stimulea

The spines of  the Sabine stimulea sting,  so I know not to touch them.

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Look but don’t touch!

Flower and Friends

Caterpillars Come Back

| Flower Roberts

Okay.  I know these are not the same caterpillars as last year.

Those are long gone as Fritillary butterflies.

I grow these wild Passion vines just for them.

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I have been inspecting the leaves for weeks.

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I was beginning to get concerned.

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Then they appeared.

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Large and small. Over and under. Here and there.

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Just like always.

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I love them with a Passion.

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FLOWER

 

 

Parsley in Protective Custody

| Flower Roberts

My parsley plant started disappearing again.

Last time this happened, I found a little striped Black Swallowtail caterpillar munching on it.

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After a few days it crawled up on the Passion vine, changed shape,

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formed a chrysalis, and disappeared.

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This time though, I could not find the culprit.

Each day the plant got smaller and smaller.

Ah Ha!  I finally caught the bandit in action.

No Black Swallowtail this go-round.

It was a black New Zealand Lop rabbit, Charlotte.

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The plant has been moved out of reach of Miss Munchie.

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She was out there searching for her snack this morning.

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Whew! These rabbits keep me hopping.

FLOWER

Another Cute Little Stinger

| Flower Roberts

I had to search for these two, but I knew that they ate banana leaves.

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Saddleback caterpillars. Large one above the scissor handle. Small one at the point.

These are Saddleback caterpillars/Archaria stimulea.

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They are beautiful.  The hairs are their stingers.   Their venom is painful.

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I was stung by one over thirty years ago. I still remember the shock of it.

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Itty bitty, greenie weanie, tiny little stinging meanie.

FLOWER

He’s Cute! Can I Pet Him?

| Flower Roberts

I found this fuzzy baby munching on some Lucifer leaves.

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He looks so much like a tiny Barley bunny, that I wanted to pick him up.

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Good thing I know better.

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This sweet little puss caterpillar also has another name.

Asp caterpillar.

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Megalopyge opercularis, wooly slug, asp caterpillar

Megalopyge opercularis/Flannel moth caterpillar/wooly slug

If you must pet it, you will get stung.

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He’s cute, but he’s mean.

FLOWER

Coffee Cups Caterpillar Crapper

| Flower Roberts

This is NOT how I intended this to turn out.

I have been very pleased with the new placement of Colocasia escuelenta/ Coffee cups/ West Indian Kale near the small fish pond.

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I intended to write a post about moving plants until you and the plant are both happy.

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Well, now there is a third party involved.

The oak tree above is full of munching little caterpillars.

If you look up, you see naked limbs.

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If you look down, you see feces.  Now the water in the cups has the color of coffee. Yuck!

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So thus the name of the post, in honor of Thomas Crapper of Chelsea. The owner of an early lavatory manufacturer in London.

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My OCD self keeps flushing the leaves with water.  No pun intended.

FLOW