Last year I had a dilemma. I found a caterpillar and the photo and location wasn't enough to ID it. This is what my BAMONA expert said in 2014,
Comments: As far as I know, only two species feed on Hops, the Eastern Comma and the Question Mark. I have reared both, and this does not look like either one. Please, collect it and keep it in a jar until it produces a butterfly. You will be actually doing it a favour: out there in the open it could easily be eaten! If you succeed in rearing it, I can go back to this record and change the ID. For now, all I can say is that it looks more like a Question Mark. RossFair enough, says I. This is the same species as flummoxed us last year. I never thought to keep it to watch it morph into a butterfly. I did capture a Mourning Cloak in July!
You may notice that the chrysalis now has a buddy. This is something I thought so funny.
The black one is Hypercompe scribonia Great Leopard Moth, and it has had one Instar. It sat there for a day or two, and has since moved back into the foliage. I had one ID's last year. You can see the shell here! It's not gone into a chrysalis.
In the meantime, I have this one, as well as a lady beetle larvae, and another mystery caterpillar. The Hops bine is a home for many, many critters, including my tree frogs!
These caterpillars, hatched into a beautiful bug, but I had a hard time grabbing a photo!
I'll leave you with this lovely lady beetle, and froggy! Everyone loves the Hops bines!
9 comments:
Great post and photos on the various caterpillars, ladybug and the cute frog. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
neat that you give them shelter as they transition!
Beautiful macro shots!
I'm interested to see what emerges from your chrysalis. The black fuzzy is a lot like the wooly bear cats that are abundant in my yard. I haven't inspected my hops vines for caterpillars, I'll have to go see what I can find, you have so many cool cats!
Hari OM
Beautiful bugs - and marvellous photo-recording!!! you know I'm a fan... &*> YAM xx
I haven't noticed caterpillars around here for a long time. Maybe it's because I'm not looking. I had lots of butterflies this summer so there should have been caterpillars.
What amazing photos, Jenn. I just returned from an exhausting trip to Pennsylvania to meet our new grandson. How fabulous to find so many different caterpillars and enjoying the surprise of what they turn into.
Good luck with your little critters and their metamorphoses!
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I feel like I'm so out of touch. This is the first long day in town for weeks, but I'm just getting to the blogs after cooking all day. Our friend John's mother never really recovered from her open heart surgery. Her husband has taken over cooking, so I help out on "Football Saturdays" by making a casserole to take over for Sunday dinner. - Margy
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