Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Hungry Caterpillar

While tending to my garden yesterday, I noticed a fairly large moth caterpillar sitting on my plants. I've no idea what species it is, it's rather dully colored. Although I enjoy looking at this weird and wonderful little creepy crawlie, I don't like what it does to my plants. I don’t feel comfortable using chemical pesticides under any circumstances though, I never do and just let nature take its course.

As you can see from the picture, the creepy crawlie stretched along the stem of the top leaflet, munching on one of the leaves. One caterpillar will easily eat the entire plant leaving a very unpleasant sight. Fortunately, my mom has tons of these plants scattered about her back yard that I can move the larva to.

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First Commenter - Digital Flower Pictures.com

36 comments:

Digital Flower Pictures said...

After getting a nasty bite from a Caterpillar I won't handle them anymore. Glad yours was friendly.

stan said...

the glossy and slightly translucent body gives tt caterpillar an alien-like quality.

napaboaniya said...

*GULPZ* That's quite an unusual species of caterpillar you've captured there!
Gives me the feel, of a snake :P

Lori said...

OMG...its huge. Happy WW:)

Tiaras and Tantrums said...

that little sucker is H-U-G-E

Mei Teng said...

Caterpillars are cute...according to my 3 yr old nephew..hhehe. But I would never touch one...eeks. Creepy crawlies scare me.

Dora said...

Wow! That's a big one! ;)

lina said...

that is one fat caterpillar!

I always scared of the ones with all the "bulu" around them.

Pretty Life Online said...

Ewwww!!! Cool one for Wordless... Mine's up too hope you can drop by... Have a great day!

Life Ramblings said...

Digital Flower Pictures,
Some caterpillars can sting though, so make sure you know what you're picking up before you touch it with bare hands.

Life Ramblings said...

stan,
yeah, it looks like an invasion of bug from another planet.:)

Life Ramblings said...

Elaine,
haha, it's harmless and absolutely friendlier than snakes of all kinds.

Life Ramblings said...

Lori,
yeah, it's huge and fat. :)

Life Ramblings said...

Tiaras and Tantrums,
it has to eat a lot and continue eating if it's going to pupate.

Life Ramblings said...

Mei Teng,
it's friendly and it won't bite but sadly, i had to move it to another territory.

Life Ramblings said...

precisely Dora. Happy WW :)

Life Ramblings said...

Lina,
those are definitely creepy, they might be toxic. i won't touch them at all.

Life Ramblings said...

Pretty Life Online,
thanks for visiting. :)

Staci said...

omg I would have DIED!

Krista said...

Oh my, if I found that I would ran away screaming - there would be no touching for me. LOL You are brave!

Beth F said...

Nice macros! Kind of creepy, eh?

wormandflowers said...

WOW! It looks really huge! I've never seen one that big. Thank god.

JMom said...

Kudos to you for having that caterpillar on your finger!

EastCoastLife said...

ewwww.... so gross. That is such a huge caterpillar!

Monica said...

eeeeeewwwwwwww! u're so brave :-D

foongpc said...

I always flush these caterpillars down the drain, so probably if they survive they will climb back up and invade my neighbour's plants. Haha!!

Ayie said...

We're you the one actually holding it? That's a big one and I don't think I'll have the guts to hold it with bare hands. I'm likely to grab a stick and make it crawl there. It's nice to see nature pics, something that calms my day.

Btw,thanks for the contest vote..you're the very 1st to rate it. Glad you like it too.

Mariuca said...

Oh my! I don think I can hold a caterpillar LR!

Mariuca said...

Have a great Thursday, dropped ec here. :)

Dragonblogger said...

That is one massive caterpillar, some caterpillars have chemical secretions that can cause skin irritation, and others can bite, but most are harmless. I get a season where thousands of woolly caterpillars swarm the streets every year, it looks like the streets are alive with a carpet of caterpillars.

Crazyfool - Make You Crazy And FooL said...

wow.. it dont bite or make you itchy ar.. although it look colourful.. but damn it i sure wont touch it.. haha

Maricel said...

Yikes!!! Scary one... Happy WW! :)

JL said...

I don't get to see caterpillars actually, this is an eye-opener. O_O

It is HUGE!

Thanks for sharing it.

Uncle Lee said...

Gosh, you sure one lady I first time seeing not afraid of wrigglies, ha ha.
I am afraid of worms and what you holding, but not snakes.
My wife sees that, she'll run two blocks, ha ha.
You have fun and keep well, Lee.

Cashmere said...

You touched it with your own bare hands??? Ugggh.. I don't think I can ever do that.. =|

Tekkaus said...

Wow...amazing! So damm gorgeous ler. How come the one you discovered was so tame? :D