19 August 2013

Monday macrobug: Saddleback caterpillars

Posted by Callan Bentley

My neighbor, the artist Diane Artz Furlong, photographed these extraordinary caterpillars in her garden last week. With her permission, I’m reposting the photos here…

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Diane writes that,

Just when I thought I was done with the Japanese beetle onslaught (not!) I find these guys on my rose bush. I would never have found them, though, had I not brushed my hand up against them. They sting! Quite painfully, too. They are saddleback caterpillars (from the slug caterpillar family) and they are the larvae of a brown moth. Fairly harmless except for the sting, these are about 1/2 inch long and that’s a rose leaf they are on. After some research and learning they’ll eat anything I decided to put them on a wild grape vine far from my rose bushes. Hope they are happy.
Oh! and I put some aloe sap on the stings and the pain subsided quickly after that.

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Wild looking animals – I love the diversity of nature…