I found this little buzz cut in a (happily) overgrown meadow of wildflowers. It was just sitting on top a leaf (of a plant I can not identify but looks alot like Japanese Shiso leaves.) The caterpillar is more of a reddish brown, brick red, or rusty orange brown in color - those rust colored hairs were not soft and thin looking either but tight, short spikes coming out in little close together bursts. I bet this fuzz muffin turns into a moth and not a butterfly... anyone know for sure?
I had the distinct feeling it was enjoying the view and looking over it's personal kingdom. :)
XoXo
I found this little buzz cut in a (happily) overgrown meadow of wildflowers. It was just sitting on top a leaf (of a plant I can not identify but looks alot like Japanese Shiso leaves.) The caterpillar is more of a reddish brown, brick red, or rusty orange brown in color - those rust colored hairs were not soft and thin looking either but tight, short spikes coming out in little close together bursts. I bet this fuzz muffin turns into a moth and not a butterfly... anyone know for sure?
I had the distinct feeling it was enjoying the view and looking over it's personal kingdom. :)
XoXo
what type is it
ReplyDeleteIt's just an ordinary woolly bear caterpillar. What's not ordinary is that this particular one doesn't have black ends at all, whereas most do in varying thicknesses (there are even solid black varieties). There is an old legend that states that if the middle band is wider than the black bands, the coming winter will be mild. If this one's forecast is correct, it could be a very very mild winter! Personally, I prefer to make predictions based on other things, such as watching squirrels to see if they seem busier than usual with foraging and burying nuts. Come to think of it, if one watched enough squirrel behavior, one could track the percentage of acorns the squirrel chews the nub off of before burying. They chew it off to prevent it from germinating, thereby ensuring it will still be a nut and not a sprout in the spring when they get the munchies. So if they seem to scraping a higher percentage than usual, they must know it will be a longer and leaner winter ahead. I don't think anybody knows for sure why they don't neuter all of them all of the time, but my guess is... they're selectively repopulating the forest!
ReplyDeleteSquirrel grabs a nut but ain't hungry so it's like, " I'm a-gonna save this here bag-lunch for later, so better bury it. Hmm.. where's a good lil' spot? Heck, that patch over thar will do quite nicelike! Nothin' in the way, just a perfect little patch of bare forest I can easily find again. 'Kay, here I goes... wait a minnit. Hmm. This wouldn't be a bad spot for another ADC (Acorn Distribution Center) for my kids some day. Fuck, I hate to miss the meal, but it's gonna be a mild winter anyway, so what the hell... I won't kill this one. Live long and prosper, little one."