wooly bear

i saw this black caterpillar the other day. turns out, it is a wooly bear which will eventually turn into a tiger moth. wooly bear caterpillars predict the weather with the color of their wooliness: more brown equals a milder winter, while more black means harsh conditions...oh, man.

web worm alert

well i guess i am a little late because they are here...the web worms that is! i am fortunate to not have many in my yard, but, wow: check out my neighbors tree: engulfed! the fall web worm creates the characteristic webbed nests on tree limbs of a wide variety of hardwoods in the late summer and fall: it has been recorded in 636 species. this worm is mainly an aesthetic pest and is not believed to harm otherwise healthy trees. the moth is native to north america, with a range from canada to mexico, and is one of the few insect pests introduced from north america into other continents: sorry, people.

what is eating my parsley?

what is eating my parsley? the same thing that's eating my fennel: swallow tail butterfly caterpillars! just as the fennel was coming back after the last round of butterfly babies, an unexpected second batch appeared...i counted 32 caterpillars and am not sure if they will have enough to eat considering the most i have seen previously was six! i put up a little protection from my little wrens because i would love to have a flock of butterflies!

giant silk moth

how gorgeous is this giant silk moth? i have never seen one around here and they only live for a week, so i feel lucky! he (or she?) was hanging out on the newel post, when i accidently knocked it to the ground and it showed me its distraction pattern: impressive!