Monarch Caterpillars

A few days ago we noticed that something had been eating the leaves on our milkweed plant.Upon closer inspection, and to our delight, we discovered the hungry leaf eaters were Monarch Caterpillars!

Female monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed, which is the only plant monarch caterpillars can eat. They lay one egg to the underside of a milkweed leaf. The eggs are very small and are whitish in color. Three to six days after the eggs are deposited, they will hatch. We think our tiny little caterpillars hatched over the weekend.

Immediately after hatching, the caterpillar is so small it can barely be seen. It grows very fast though, feeding on nothing but milkweed leaves. In just 9 to 14 days it is about 2" long and fully grown.

When the caterpillar is full grown it usually leaves the milkweed plant. It travels until it finds a safe place to pupate.

The caterpillar then passes from the larval (caterpillar) stage to the pupa (chrysalis) stage of metamorphosis. In this pupa stage the caterpillar is inside a jade green casing which is called a chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis, which is only about an inch long, the caterpillar will amazingly transform into a beautiful butterfly. In just 9 to 14 days the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is complete.

About one hour after emerging from its chrysalis, the monarch's wings are full-sized, dry, and ready for flying. Four to six days after emerging from its chrysalis, a monarch butterfly is old enough to mate and thus begins the life cycle of the next generation.

But right now our milkweed plant is being devoured by these hungry little caterpillars, which will soon reduce the milkweed plant to bare stems. But no worries, the foliage will grow back in a few weeks, just in time for the next generation of monarch caterpillars!

References:

Journey North

Hornworm

We found an adult hornworm moth on a tomato plant in the garden this morning. For those of you who garden you should be very familiar with the larval form of this moth, as it is voracious eater of tomato plants. While the adults do not eat plant material, I am sure this one was looking for healthy tomato plant to lay its eggs.

The adults are often called hummingbird moths, you can often find them at dusk zipping around and they hover like hummingbirds near tubular flowers sipping the nectar with their long tongues

The caterpillar of this moth is green in color with a "horn" for a tail. They are well camouflaged and often hard to spot in the garden. They grow up to 5 inches in length! These caterpillars feed ravenously on leaves and fruits of tomatoes and related plants, and since they are harmless, they are easy to pick up and toss from your garden.

The Cicada Killers have emerged in Georgia

Eastern cicada killers (Sphecius speciosus) are intimidatingly large wasps. They dig burrows each summer in well-drained lawns, fields, and other areas. Their excavations begin a few weeks after the annual cicadas start singing.

In this picture below the female cicada killer is carrying a paralyzed annual cicada back to her burrow, where she will put it in a nest cell, lay an egg on it, and seal the cell. After a few days a grub will hatch from the egg, eat the cicada and then over-winter underground in a hard cocoon which it creates. In the spring the grub will pupate, hatch in the summer, and dig its way to the surface and live above ground for 2-6 weeks repeating the cycle above.
The cicada killer has adapted its life cycle to be in sync with that of its hosts, the cicadas. They spend over 90% of their life underground as a larva, emerge in summer, reproduce, and then die. Like most hunting and parasitic wasps, the cicada killer is a beneficial insect, preying on cicadas which damage deciduous trees.

References:

Prof. Chuck Holliday's Cicada Killer Pages

It's a moth!

I found out that this curious caterpillar is a species of moth. It is in the genus Synchlora.

This kind of caterpillar attaches bits of flowers to it's self for camouflage.

It is well adapted to this type of behavior, as it has tiny bundles of spines protruding from its back, to which it fastens silk it uses to tie down the petal pieces.

It appears able to sense when the pieces need renewing. Because the larva carries no vase on its back, the pieces wilt with time. The larva renews them at intervals, ensuring that its protective cover remains fresh and appropriately floral in appearance.

When the larva pupates it crawls from the flowers to a more central location on the plant. There it eventually spins a loose cocoon. It weaves its petal cover into the fabric of the cocoon, and as a consequence blends in beautifully with the background.

The delicate moth that emerges from the cocoon is a pale yellowish-green.

Here is an example of an adult of the species Synchlora aerata:

References:

Wilderness by Thomas Eisner

American Goldfinch

We had a pair of American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) at the bird feeder today. The male is the one on the left with the black cap and dark wings, while the female is the one on the right.

This species does not start its breeding period until late in the summer; it is one of the latest nesting birds. It usually does not start until late June or early July, when most other songbirds are finishing with breeding. The late timing may be related to the availability of suitable nesting materials and seeds for feeding young.

Goldfinches are mostly monogamous, but a number of females switch mates after producing a first brood. The first male takes care of the fledglings while the female goes off to start another brood with a different male.

They are an abundant, widespread species and their populations appear stable.

References:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds

Firefly

It is almost summer and the fireflies are out in full force. I found these two mating on the coreopsis plant just before sunset.

What is this?

Found this curious caterpillar on the coreopsis plant tonight. It appears to camouflage itself with bits of leaf litter. Have not yet identified it, will more post when I do!