. . .caterpillars, tent caterpillars.
I’d never really noticed them before. But then I started seeing these bags of silky, thick webs on trees and shrubs. In an attempt to get over my aversion to creepy, crawly, insect-y things I decided to keep watching until something emerged from the bags.
A garden columnist wrote about them in the local paper last weekend. I can tell you that the critters go through six larval stages, they love to eat young leaves, preferrably deciduous, and their outbreaks are cyclical, which means I won’t necessarily have to force myself to study them yearly.
The columnist went on to talk about their predators, the unsightliness of their soiled nests, and, importantly, some stomach-turning ways to get rid of them. All of that heartily reinforced my insect aversion.
Here are the critters that emerge. Frankly, I’m surprised you’ve read this far. I would have kept on going as soon as the top photo loaded.
What a fascinating find, Kay! Love these gifts from nature, which we are not particularly used to on our daily lives.
They look like gypsy moths! I remember when we had a huge invasion when I was kid – they decimated the trees in my yard, and got all over everything.
No, they really are tent caterpillars, not gypsies. The gypsies don’t taste nearly as good. 🙂
The top photo appeals to my artistic sense. The bottom not so much!