Longtime readers will know that I have a fondness for woolly bear caterpillars, the larvae of the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella). Ordinarily, I find the charming caterpillars while they are approximately the length and girth of my pinkie finger, a pretty hefty size for a caterpillar. Last Monday, I found the smallest woolly bear that I've ever seen:
Look at that wee, precious beastie! If it's lucky, it will bulk up on a variety of plants (no specialist like the monarch here), becoming the cute, finger-sized chunk that I am used to seeing, then freeze solid during the coldest winter days, ready to thaw out in the spring and develop into a pretty yellow moth.
As I've noted, I have a fondness for these little fuzzy buddies, and I was overjoyed to see one this small... next year, I think I'll have to keep my eyes peeled to see if I can spot the eggs of this charismatic moth.
4 comments:
Hmm - looks like a mildish winter!
I Wiki'd the woolly bear moth, and phooey on their boring rationalistic poo-poohing of the caterpillar's weather predicting color scheme. They mention another folkloric bit I never heard before - that you can predict winter by releasing a woolly bear and watching what direction it crawls away in: south for a hard winter, north for a mild one.
Amazing how a caterpillar can accumulate so much folklore
Amazing the Caterpillar knows which way North and South sre.
Hmmmm... maybe those rust-red hairs are actual rust, therefore magnetic.
Effin' caterpillars, how do they work?
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