as the worm turns

I was inspecting my sad, weedy, sagging tomato patch yesterday and noticed that something was, in turn, eyeing me.

It was a massive tomato hornworm caterpillar.  See the protective row of "eyes" along its side?

He was taking a big bite out of one of my green tomatoes.  Tomato hornworms are destructive, but can easily be controlled by hand-plucking.  As I'm calling this year's patch a total loss (except for its future contribution to my compost pile), I left him to eat.

A tussock moth caterpillar gives a visual warning of his stinging abilities.  They are poisonous and can trigger a pretty nasty allergic reaction if you're susceptible to that sort of thing.  A lesser reaction is a poison ivy-like rash.  Both sound unpleasant, so give this guy a wide berth if you see him in the garden!

I've seen a lot of "former caterpillars" around.  A few weeks ago we had the rosy maple moth...

...and this week, the royal walnut.

 
They're our country's largest moth.  This one had a nearly 5" wingspan!  I'd love to see its caterpillar stage: the Hickory Horned Devil.  I'm intrigued!

Todd spotted a lovely luna moth out by the pasture.  They have their interesting quirks, clicking and regurgitating as a defense mechanism.  The long "tails" are a defense mechanism, too, thought to confuse the radar-detection methods of bats.

Of course, we have lots of butterflies around, like this male tiger swallowtail...

...and common skipper.

It's not only tomato hornworms that are putting holes in potential produce.  I noticed that the tree in our side yard is dropping a lot of apples.  A few minutes with the binoculars solved the problem:  a flock of blue jays has settled in, and they're feeding heavily. 

One solution is to cover the tree with netting, but honestly, we have A LOT of apples - enough, I think, to share.  I'll keep an eye on the situation, though.

Less damaging visitors include plenty of birds with better manners...

...and Claudia, of course!

We have another cat slinking around at night.  For weeks we've been calling him "the fox-eared kitten," but he's like a shadow on the edge of our porch light and we haven't been able to get a good look.  Last night, though, he was persuaded to come onto the porch for a good meal.  Hopefully he'll come back tonight!

Our cats have been too lethargic in the heat to care too much.

Bosewichte, at least, was roused when we brought in some IKEA Kallax cabinets to organize my craft room.

I guess that while I'm sharing my apples and tomatoes, I might as well share my cabinets too.

Have a great week!