Tag: caterpillars
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Caterpillar Clusters
Groups tend to be more extreme than individuals. ~Daniel Kahneman In spite of the heat and humidity (or maybe because of it), this is one of my favorite times of year – caterpillar time. The period between mid-August and mid-September tends to be the best time to find the greatest variety of interesting caterpillars in Read more…
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A Fondness for Caterpillars
And what’s a butterfly? At best, He’s but a caterpillar, drest. ~John Grey Another season of caterpillar finds and larval programs is winding down. We have been searching high and low for larvae and, consequently, caring for a menagerie of crawling critters for several weeks now. My caterpillar programs have ended, and Melissa’s will be Read more…
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BugFest Residue, Part 2
Nature, in her blind search for life, has filled every possible cranny of the earth with some sort of fantastic creature. ~Joseph Wood Krutch Here are a few more of the fantastical critters from our scouring of the woods and fields for BugFest… The stars of this year’s caterpillar table were several huge polyphemus moth Read more…
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What a Way to Go
Nature is so much worse than science fiction. ~Quote attributed to a student in an introductory entomology course We discovered a small caterpillar last week that was adorned with some unusual accessories, and that usually isn’t a good thing if you are a caterpillar. I think it was either a variable oakleaf, or a double-lined Read more…
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In an Instant
Nature taking its course – hunter and prey, the endless circle of life and death. ~Stephanie Meyer Melissa found some cool caterpillars on a Viburnum this weekend while we were walking in a city park in Richmond. I walked over to take a look and saw a beautiful hummingbird clearwing larva, Hemaris thysbe, in the classic Read more…
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Leading a Double Life on the Edge
There is more both of beauty and of raison d’etre in the works of nature- than in those of art. ~Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) The adaptations of insects in our yard are both beautiful and incredible. Here is a little more on some leaf edge caterpillars discovered the past few days… One of the most Read more…
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Life on the Edge
In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment. ~Charles Darwin I shared some images last week of one of my favorite moth larvae, the unicorn caterpillar. Their shape, coloration, and behavior allow them to blend in remarkably well Read more…
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Seeing the Wild in Wild Cherry
The most beautiful gift of Nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see. ~Albert Einstein There is a wild cherry (Prunus serotina) sapling just outside our screen porch that is a favorite spot for all sorts of natural events. Wild cherry is a great host plant Read more…
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Summer Cats
Nature will not be admired by proxy. ~Winston Churchill Seems as though my schedule (and the heat) have kept me from some of my usual yard patrols, so I finally went out the other day for a walk-about to see what I could see. It started with my eye catching something out of place on Read more…
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When Worms Aren’t
The worm poop is raining down like a black sleet storm. Got to remember not to open mouth while looking up. ~Ken in Texas, on Unofficial Allis Chalmers Forum, talking about Catalpa Worms A little over a month ago, I received an email from a neighbor about some caterpillars that were “munching their way thru Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 