Hairy Tiny Tuesday

It has been a day of tiny things for me.  The temps are touching 90 F with enough humidity to make it truly unpleasant outside.  The only things that seem undaunted are the hummingbirds and the insects.

I chose this fancy looking caterpillar just because I think they are rather funny looking with their big long "hair" (setae, in technical terms).  They are actually a pest and I don't really like finding them traipsing all over the garden.  But, one takes the good with the bad.  This is a Fall Webworm Moth caterpillar.  The eggs are deposited in large masses and enclosed in silk "pouches" that usually encompass part of a tree branch and lots of leaves.  We get them every year on the cherry trees.  Once the cats are big enough to chew through the silk (having already eaten the leaves) they start wandering.  And unlike some caterpillars, these aren't particular about what they eat so I find them everywhere.  

I realized that I hadn't tried the macro lens on my new D850 - wow, what a nice combo!  

I released 4 monarchs today, making the year total 127.  This season of raising has been trouble free...until today.  As I was checking my enclosures this morning (cleaning, refreshing milkweed, making sure everyone is okay), I discovered that about 12 of my chrysalids are looking funky.  I have destroyed 4 of them as I knew from looking that they were not viable.  Another 8 have been isolated.  The container they were in has been emptied and sterilized.  My suspicion is that the female who deposited the eggs was infected with some sort of bacteria.  That is the only explanation that fits.  Nothing I could have done to prevent it, but it is still very discouraging. Happily, I have 20 or so healthy looking chrysalids and 30 or so cats that all appear healthy.  

I also found a big monarch cat in my garden today who had been attacked by a predatory stink bug nymph while trying to pupate.  Nothing I could have done about that either, but it is the reason why I try to raise as many as I can inside safe enclosures.  Part of me wanted to squash the stink bug, but then I reminded myself that nature has its own cycle and I must respect that.  The list of things that predate or parasitize monarch eggs and cats is very long indeed.

Anyway, on to happier things...I've started looking at all the TinyTuesday entries and all I can say is that you're making my job very hard indeed!  There are so many delightful, lovely, funny and creative entries.  If you have a few minutes, please do take a look HERE.  I will be posting my picks on Thursday, so stay tuned...

Cheers,
Debbi