Recently in moths and caterpillars Category

Ever have those moments you so very much wish you had your camera with you? If you are lucky, you might at least have your camera phone with you. And if you are really lucky, the picture you take might actually turn out okay. And then, if you are really, really lucky, the picture might even turn out pretty cool.

The power of window reflection -- that's our schoolyard habitat in the background.

This moth delighted kids and parents alike as it rested for hours on a school window. It appears to be an Imperial Moth, Eacles imperialis, but I prefer to call it Mothra. Now we just need Godzilla!

I want to send out a thanks to my friend Richard for taking the time to identify the moth -- it sure is one worth knowing.

We've got a busy habitat year ahead of us at the school already. My poor garden at home is already getting neglected... again!

So all those zillions of Bordered Patch caterpillars of mine suddenly up and disappeared. Gone, gone, gone. Just a total mystery.

I searched and searched for either caterpillar or chrysalis. After some time, I finally found this lone caterpillar on one of my pitiful remaining sunflowers, one pretty much decimated by all the other the now-absent munchers. I'm rooting for this little caterpillar to make it all the way through.

  I did find some chrysalises around, but they seemed too tiny to be the Bordered Patch caterpillars. I have no idea how far these guys roam to find their perfect chrysalis spot, but I'm hoping that's what happened. Otherwise, I'm casting a suspicious eye at the mockingbirds. But could they have eaten that many, leaving not a trace? Perhaps the heavy rain a couple of days ago had something to do with the caterpillars' disappearance? Who knows. I will just be hopeful that they are resting in a nice safe spot, doing their magic to become butterflies.

Besides our lone ranger, there's another "one." A beautiful yellow sunflower blooms off its rather raggedy stem and leaves. It sure toughed it out after all those caterpillars tried to steal its greenery.

I found a Gulf Fritillary, brand new and still drying its wings, under a few Passionflower leaves. It's the first Fritillary I've gotten to see emerge. Passionvines are so rewarding.

This flower looks like it's sticking its tongue out at someone. But that's no tongue on that Mexican sage... it's a Southern Crimson Moth.

This next photo makes it look much darker than it really is -- the moth is actually a very dainty pink. And dainty in size, too!

I guess time will solve the mystery of the Bordered Patch caterpillars for me. If they survived, I'm sure I'll see them soon, fluttering about the garden.

Two new visitors to the garden drank up nectar together, and a mad dash for the camera was the human reaction... because these visitors were SO COOL.

First a large black swallowtail, but NOT an actual Black Swallowtail -- this is the black morph of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, the first I'd ever seen.

If you look closely at the forewings, you can see a shadow of the stripes that are so familiar in the yellow morph of the Eastern Tiger.

Her proboscis kept reminding me of Gonzo the Great, one of my favorite Muppets.

A close-up reveals that the blue color is a sprinkling of little dots.

Zoooooom. What was that yellow and black creature zipping by? Not a bumblebee, no no. And nope, not a hummgbird. And most definitely not a butterfly. It was a Snowberry Clearwing Moth, a hummingbird moth. So beautiful and fun to watch. Just strangely named, given that it exists here in central Texas, where snow is not the norm. Apparently it was named because it likes snowberries. Go figure.

And while it can hover and zoom like a hummingbird, it does behave a little differently and rests its front legs on a bloom while drinking nectar. Its wings never seem to stop -- their clear centers make them very hard to see sometimes.

See its rolled-up proboscis in the photo below? I didn't notice it until I looked at the photos, that's how fast the big moth zipped about. The moth extends it out super fast to suck up the nectar, then rolls it right back up again for easy travel. 

The Snowberry Clearwing's caterpillar form is a hornworm, related to those infamous tomato plant munchers, but these caterpillars prefer honeysuckle (including, of course, snowberries), viburnum, cherry, and plum. Works for me.

And for them, apparently.