Mother Bugger !!!

Beautiful pics of the caterpillar James He's a strange looking dude

Exellent pictures James. The caterpillar is stunning.

I've recently photographed a very hairy caterpiller that I have nick named Alex (can't think why  )

It is now pupating. So I will post pics of the larval stage, pupa & adult when (if) it emerges.

Looks a lot like the "Tomato Horn Worms" we have here.  They'll strip a tomato plant in a day or two, if your not watching.
They burrow into the ground and cocoon for the winter.  Then emerge in the spring as a "Hawk Moth".  The Hawk Moth is one of the few that pollinate the night blooming flowers.

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We have a lot of tomato worms at the farm where I grew up, and my wife has taken a few into her class room in the fall, for her students to study.  Usually has a big aquarium full of dirt, and they can see the pupa's at the bottom of the tank.  Then in the spring, they release the moth's after they emerge.

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Thanks Guys - glad you think the Caterpillars are cool

cantina_patron wrote:Exellent pictures James. The caterpillar is stunning.

I've recently photographed a very hairy caterpiller that I have nick named Alex (can't think why  )

It is now pupating. So I will post pics of the larval stage, pupa & adult when (if) it emerges.

That's awesome Steve

I hope to get lucky enough to catch mine pupating as well


Your Tomato worms are cool Clint

cantina_patron wrote:Exellent pictures James. The caterpillar is stunning.

I've recently photographed a very hairy caterpiller that I have nick named Alex (can't think why  )

It is now pupating. So I will post pics of the larval stage, pupa & adult when (if) it emerges.

I can't believe how quickly this this guy emerged. I have now identified 'Alex' as a Garden Tiger Moth (I'll be releasing him/her when it gets dark).

Did Beth decide on the name?

That's a fantastic run of pictures

Very cool pics Steve, Alex has some great colours   I read somewhere you can feed them with a piece of cotton soaked in sugar water(1 part sugar/ 4 parts water) and they suck it up

Commander Clint wrote:Did Beth decide on the name?

That's a fantastic run of pictures

No, it was me.

I'm glad you enjoyed the pics Clint.

Nico wrote:Very cool pics Steve, Alex has some great colours   I read somewhere you can feed them with a piece of cotton soaked in sugar water(1 part sugar/ 4 parts water) and they suck it up

Thanks Andy. I've tried using that method for honey bees in autumn (when natural food is in short supply) we started off with a few each day, then as word spread we got hundreds. They were getting through 500ml of sugar solution within an afternoon. I guess someone benefited from the extra honey produced.

Thanks James. When I found the caterpillar wandering around on the ground, I knew it was looking for somewhere to pupate, so I placed it in an empty cricket tub with some moss, hence how I managed to get the pics. of it as a pupa & newly emerged adult.

That Eastern Comma Butterfly is a beaut.

James, that's a fantastic looking butterfly.

Stunning Orange colour there James Your lucky to get some great wildlife passing through your garden mate

I'm forever removing snails from my garden and evicting them to the field beyond our back fence as all they do is eat the plants and multiply (I don't damage them I just move them on, they don't pay rent so can't stay )

I've seen a couple of decent size spiders in my greenhouse but I let them be as they eat smaller insects and help keep the pests down in there (when I say decent size I mean for the UK, nothing compared to what some of you guys get in your countries I'll try and get a pic next time I see one

Great pics James After a little googling I think that's a goldenrod crab spider (or flower crab spider) an interesting little fella

Even through the window they are still great shots mate Beautiful colouring on that Passion Butterfly  

He saw you as a predator.

That's a nice butterfly.

Stunning collection of photo's James. I particularly like the red back jumping spider & monarch butterfly.

Nice pictures James.

Do you still see a lot of Monarch's around Enid? They are on the decline here in Ontario & I haven't seen many this year.