Saturday 17 March 2012

Creepy crawlers in the garden: cutworm

Yes, they are awake. This one seemed to be blowing bubbles, gargling while on its back!
This is the larvae of some sort of cutworm moth. Wicked things, they decimate young plants.
Of course, not as badly as our rabbits, who have chopped off the tender shoots of my crocus.
Isn't nature grand?!


Yes, it pooped on my hand!





Brown on top

green underneath
it curled around for protection

To pursue the identity of a caterpillar.


Cutworms are not worms, but the larvae of certain moths. The eggs hatch in late spring, and the cutworms will spend the next several months chowing on plants before they burrow into the soil to prepare for their metamorphosis.



For those grossed out by this bug, a delightful chick-a-dee-dee-dee!
Although, during mating season, they sing ham-bur-gur, ham-bur-gur!

Chickadees, robins, are happy to find bugs about!
Buster shows off his prey.
Yesterday, he chased 3 deer!
What a boy!

Camera Critters #206

12 comments:

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Wow, this is cool, nature is grand but at times I wish the creepy crawlies would eat weeds instead of things we want to see or eat :).

W.C.Camp said...

Ordinarily I enjoy your pix but as luck would have it on St. Patrick's Day, I treated myself out to a cup of coffee, Egg McMuffin, and a WiFi connection. After that picture though I am suddenly NOT HUNGRY!!! Happy Spring to you. Have a great week! W.C.C.

Anonymous said...

ICKY! Hope you are feeling better soon, Jenn. Gin

Anonymous said...

The Chickadee is way cuter than the cutworm!

Cheryl said...

Thank you for Buster & the chickadee. I don't like cutworms in my garden or in my vision!

(I noticed you have something called Hawk Hunter over on your sidebar. I'm having difficulty identifying the raptor I shot this week. Would you mind taking a look and seeing if you can help? Thanks. Cheryl)

TexWisGirl said...

hopefully your robins will eat a bunch of those critters for you.

eileeninmd said...

Your bug is interesting, it is awful they cause so much damage to your plants. I think I would rather see the bunnies than these bugs. Love the cute chickadee. Great post, have a wonderful weekend!

Anonymous said...

Jenn, I have tried to leave a comment but did not take. I will try email if this does not go. I hope you are feeling better.

We saw our first Robin two days ago. Your place is so heavenly!

Kay said...

Would you believe in our case, it's the cute little rice bird that's eating all our papayas and tomatoes? Sheesh! Why don't they eat the worms instead, for goodness sake?

Anonymous said...

Cool close up. Looks as if spring is already there!

Christine said...

great video, so they are a kind of caterpillar, interesting!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Ooh, chop chop I can almost hear them nibbling up your garden. I like creepy crawlies as a rule, but surely wouldn't enjoy seeing these in my garden (if I still had one)....yikes.