Showing posts with label caterpillar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caterpillar. Show all posts

Friday, August 24, 2007

Rain, rain, rain! WOW!

Wednesday morning we woke up to 1.3" in the rain gauge. Yesterday (Thursday) there was 1.9" in the rain gauge (yes, I'm emptying it every morning!). This morning (Friday) there was 3.6" in the gauge. And we hadn't been experiencing a dry spell.
Pretty crazy.
There had been a LOT of runoff...

My neighbors and I hit the ground running early this morning!
Water has a way of intruding where it hasn't been invited.
They had need of a wet vac, towels, and fans.

Later, we checked out waterways, drainage and the roadway. (The latter needed
a little "recompositioning."

Next, I picked up sticks and hickory nuts that had fallen all over the yard.
Three loads to the ravine! ;-)

I found this little guy in the front yard -
a Fall Webworm larva.
Click on his name for information about him.
Actually, he'd been abandoned after I'd picked up his home
and many, many of his siblings, and deposited them in my wheelbarrow.
After being reunited, they all received a free ride to the ravine.
But... there are always treasures!

Such as the following fungi.
(Note the blades of grass... these are very small
specimen.)

This little stink horn had obviously had it.
He had fallen over; looking pretty gruesome to boot.
All in a morning's work.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Present-day Miracles

Observation of a nearly complete life cycle, beginning with a Monarch caterpillar that traveled from a milkweed leaf in my yard, to my grandson's yard, and back to my yard! "Around the World" (From a mature caterpillar to butterfly) in 10 days.

Our Monarch caterpillar... eating, eating, eating... just prior to being housed in a mason jar with part of a pantyhose leg under a jar ring on Thursday, August 10.
The chrysalis that was formed in the jar on Friday, August 11.
The empty chrysalis we found in the jar this morning... Sunday, August 19.

The Monarch butterfly in the jar!A transfer to Daddy's hands.
Wonderment...
... and letting go.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

New Homes and Food APlenty!

The job is done. I plucked off all the little Monarch caterpillars I could find from my Butterfly Milkweed and placed them on temporary leaves from a common Milkweed. Here are a few of them. They didn't skip a beat... just kept on chewing! (And, as you might notice... pushing the "excess" right through!)

I found quite a few of them... probably 15 or so. I kept one of the larger ones in a mason jar with some fresh leaves. I'm driving to visit my daughter, son-in-law, my 4-year-old grandson and my 1 1/2 year-old granddaughter tomorrow. Perhaps a caterpillar/chrysalis/butterfly experience will be fun and educational!

And, yes, I saturated the entire Butterfly Milkweed with insect spray! I got a little heavy-handed, but assume the plant will be happier in the long run.

I also rescued three fuzzy little caterpillars that I hope to identify later. They eat milkweed leaves, too. You'll see one fuzzy little fellow below. I've discovered that it's a Milkweed Tussock Moth Caterpillar. Check out this image of the Milkweed Tussock moth!

The following photos show how easily they were transplanted. I was a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. I'm not sure they even noticed the move!

If you click to enlarge the photo of the plant, you may be able to see a few of the caterpillars.

A job "well done." I'll check my plant in the morning... within a few days, there should be several new Monarch Butterflies flying from the ditch!