27 March 2011

Week 33: Big Caterpillars and Chrysalids


Rebecca found this chrysalis on the back of the bathroom door new the front entry of the house the other day. A day earlier, she had commented on there being "one of those big caterpillars from the bush out front" in the bathroom. Apparently, the caterpillar crawled away from the bush, across the driveway, and under the front door and found a place safe from birds in order to metamorphose. I am looking forward to seeing what type of butterfly this was changes into.



This might have been the type of large, fuzzy caterpillar that entered the house. One day we noticed a few of these smashed on the driveway, and the next day, a branch of the palm tree near the front door fell, revealing a stash of about 50 of these four-inch long critters. My kids played with them for hours trying to get them off the driveway and back up the tree to safety from the wheels of the cars.



The caterpillar may have also been one of this kind. These bugs have pretty much decimated the foliage on this bush, but I haven't wanted to kill them because I want to know what they become. This photo is actually from a first batch of caterpillars appeared and disappeared about a month ago.



In January, the kids pointed out this mass of caterpillars moving through the yard. We have seen many, many different kinds of larvae here. These photos are just of the largest samples of the bugs.


A green colored chrysalis on the frame of the back door. I am not certain what type of caterpillar formed this one.

No comments:

Post a Comment