After complaining (mildly) about not being able to locate adult harvester butterflies in the vicinity of an alder on the north side of the Wetlands, which has plenty of woolly aphids and caterpillars munching on them, I spotted one. I was getting ready to make the rounds at the end of the day when I saw a small orangish butterfly zip by and through the vegetation just west of the infested alder. Although I felt sure that it was aRead more
Posts tagged: #carnivorous butterfly
Harvesters Have Arrived!
The caterpillar in the above photo was about 5 – 6 mm in length when the photo was taken. Those are aphids, in various stages of developement, on either side of the caterpillar. Ever since spotting the woolly aphids on an alder on the north side of the Wetlands I’ve been watching for harvester caterpillars to appear. They’re here. Last year I spied the first harvester caterpillars, the only North American carnivorous caterpillars, on the alder during the first weekRead more
Harvesters Eclose
The subjects of the two images at right are what greeted me as I anxiously inspected the alder this morning. I’d been out of the “office” for three days and was hoping to find both Harvester pupae intact. The first chrysalis was indeed intact, but much darkened from when I last saw it several days ago. The darkening of the chrysalis is a sure sign that the butterfly within is soon to emerge. It’s actually transparent and what you seeRead more