caterpillar
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Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars Doing Their Thing
I have seen plenty of Gulf Fritillary (Dione vanillae) butterfly activity around the Scarletfruit Passionflower (Passiflora lanuginosa), including some egg laying. So it was not at all surprising to notice one day that there was caterpillar frass on leaves of this plant. (It was just over a year ago when I discovered that the name Continue reading
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Gulf Fritillary Eggs & Tiny Caterpillars
When a butterfly visits a plant it is usually for one of two reasons: (male or female) to feed from flowers or (female) to lay eggs on leaves of host plants. It’s usually quite easy to tell which is happening by watching which parts of the plant are visited, for how long, and by whom. Continue reading
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Molting Black Swallowtail Caterpillar
I don’t think that I have seen as many caterpillars this spring compared to last year. This applies not only to my own garden, but also in places where I volunteer, and reported by others in the region. Whether this is a temporary situation this year, perhaps because of less rain and fewer wildflowers this Continue reading
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Fostering Monarch Caterpillars
I have at least three kinds of native milkweeds here, and I’m part-way through writing a post to describe them. But in the meantime, this post describes how six almost-ready-to-pupate Monarch caterpillars arrived here for some late-stage foster care. A friend had so many Monarch caterpillars in her garden that they were in danger of Continue reading
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Giant Swallowtail Caterpillars Have A “Back Off!” Signal
During one of my regular wanderings of the garden I spotted a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) caterpillar on a Common Rue (Ruta graveolens), which is one of its host plants. Given the size of this caterpillar (nearing pupation, I think), it must have been there a while and I just hadn’t noticed it before. As Continue reading
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“Bird Poop Caterpillar” Is Growing Nicely
A couple of weeks ago I planted two new Common Rue (Ruta graveolens) plants here, and one of them came pre-populated with a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) caterpillar [post]. This caterpillar also carries the nickname of “bird poop caterpillar,” which seems apt. The disguise is really very good, and I even had to look closely to Continue reading
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Not Native, But Helpful Nevertheless
My preference is to plant things here that are native to the area. By doing so, those plants should be accustomed to our soil and climate and should not need amendments or supplemental water once established. Sometimes I have made exceptions to choosing true natives, however. For instance, climate change is causing some plant ranges Continue reading
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Relocating Caterpillars
Since I last reported finding a Queen caterpillar in my milkweed patch, of course I visited often to see how it (and the plant it was eating) was doing. Over the course of the next two days I realized that there were actually three other Queen caterpillars moving among the milkweed plants. Each was about Continue reading
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A Queen Caterpillar
I have seen Queen (Danaus gilippus) butterflies here, so it is not surprising to find a caterpillar. Queen caterpillars are very similar in appearance to Monarch caterpillars, and they also use milkweeds as their host plant, so I had to look very closely at this one to know which it was. (Another clue is the Continue reading
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Ten Days Absent, And Caterpillars Had A Feast
I was away from the garden for ten days and a quick scan when I returned suggested that most things looked pretty happy. However, one thing that I would have caught earlier had I been here was another batch of Genista Broom Moth (Uresiphita reversalis) caterpillars eating new leaves on my little Texas Mountain Laurel Continue reading
About Me
Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.
I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.
Rewilding My Lot 