Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Caterpillars!

 There were 6 lovely caterpillars on my dill plant.


This was the lone dill that survived all winter...but honestly
I don't mind them munching on it.  It had already flowered, 
so it was a little late to use the leaves anyways.




When we first found them they were tiny and fuzzy
...just slightly bigger than a dill flower.
But they grew!



My kids have loved watching them.


If you tickle their back with a blade of grass these slimy orange antenna come out 
of their heads and they will bend back and try to hit you with them...


 You can see those orange antenna a little bit in the picture above.  It gets longer and comes out further than that but this was the best picture I got of it.  I originally thought it might be poisonous (couldn't think of another reason it would it do that) but I found out it's actually a gland that releases a foul smell to repel predators.

Unfortunately, some neighborhood boys came by and smooshed all but two of our caterpillars .  :-(  But, still hoping to see the last two turn into cocoons and then butterflies.  I just found out they'll turn into Black Swallowtail Butterflies!  (Thanks Laura P. from Lavendar, Literature and Lace).




This post is listed in the following memes:

Worldless Wednesday
Kludgymom Wordless Wednesday



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5 comments:

  1. What a great discovery, and what awesome photos! Happy WW!

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  2. Aw! They are so pretty! I wonder what kind of butterfly they will become?

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  3. I'm not generally a bug fan, but these are really very cute! Texas does have such interesting critters.
    Happy WW from Joysweb

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  4. They're so colorful. Im thinking how and why they're too many?
    By the way, I followed you in Google connect. This is one way to keep in touch. Hope you do the same
    MAPEH homepage
    Pink Go Green

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  5. There were actually more than four the first time when I first noticed them (in the tiny fuzzy stage). I imagine they lay a bunch of eggs because many won't survive. Certainly proved to be true here.

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