Creepy Crawlies
August 15th, 2009
T'was a snaily morning along the Rideau.
I call that one "the apartment complex."
I found these caterpillars at Mud Lake today, and at first, I actually suspected that someone was putting me on. They didn't look like insects so much as ornate tassels knitted out of colored yarn, hung one on either side of a leaf to make a fool out of a nature photographer. But they were real. They're Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars. Their fancy appearance is intended as a warning to predators. Like monarch caterpillars, they are highly poisonous (and for the same reason: both eat milkweed.)
August 15th, 2009
T'was a snaily morning along the Rideau.
I call that one "the apartment complex."
I found these caterpillars at Mud Lake today, and at first, I actually suspected that someone was putting me on. They didn't look like insects so much as ornate tassels knitted out of colored yarn, hung one on either side of a leaf to make a fool out of a nature photographer. But they were real. They're Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars. Their fancy appearance is intended as a warning to predators. Like monarch caterpillars, they are highly poisonous (and for the same reason: both eat milkweed.)
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