Thursday, July 12, 2012

Caterpillars galore in the garden this week, some I have identified, others are giving me trouble(any help will be greatly appreciated. The first suspect is some sort of Looper Moth in the superfamily Geometridae, see here reposed on a Rudbeckia hirsuta. These caterpillars are know as inch worms due to their mode of locomotion which looks a bit like they are measureing their path as they walk.
This next character is Lophocampa caryae the Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar, any time caterpillars are hairy like this guy it's to deter predation rather than to keep them warm. Sometimes the hairs are even prickly or poison tipped but not on this fellow.
These two very different caterpillars were found on the exact same plant, a Sambucus canadensis. I am unsure as to the identity of either, but they looked pretty cool curled up next to each other like this.
Finally we have this red-headed punk rocker. Orgyia leucostigma, the White-marked Tussock Moth feeds on Acer negundo as a larva and is welcome to it as there is more than enough to go around already, as well as a variety of other plants including conifers. Some people can get a rash from their hairs although thankfully I am not one of them.

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