Top Photo: The heat, the humidity, the pups…Finally, Carolina gets a break.

After a long stretch of sweaty heat what will probably be a short-lived, but welcomed, break in the humidity is upon us.

A Caterpillar

While hiking the outdoor loop I noticed a group of caterpillars busily munching on a sapling white oak on the side of the path. At first glance I thought they might be fall webworms. “Can’t be webworms, no web!”

Still, they looked familiar. There is a genus of moths, which, in their larval stage, have variously colored stripes, red, black, white, green, cream, and so on. They all feed gregariously. Most feed on various hardwoods. Some are specific in the choice of hardwood. At least three species of datana in our area feed on oak. One of them has cream and black stripes running down it’s narrow body, contracted datana.

An hour later they were gone.

Enjoy your walk.

Ranger Greg