According to folklore, the wide brown band between the black anterior and posterior bands is supposed to presage a mild winter. Mild or not, these caterpillars are equipped with chemicals which protect them from cell damage so they can freeze solid throughout the winter.
It's been very warm lately, shorts weather is the rule, but this fuzzy caterpillar is a sure reminder that cooler weather is soon to come. What better reminder to get your sweaters out of storage is there than a fuzzy little buddy?
Woolybears!
ReplyDeleteI know it's a defensive move, but they're very cute when they curl up in a fuzzy black & cinnamon coil.
Have you read Douglas Tallamy's "Bringing Nature Home"? It's a very well-written argument for native species and biodiversity in the suburban landscape - in private backyards and gardens - as a critical defense against extinction and degraded ecology. He's great on insects and especially lepidoptera.
Sounds like my kind of read. I've long maintained that the ideal of a perfect lawn is insane. Why kill off the useful plants to grow a useless monoculture, which requires all sorts of chemicals to maintain?
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