Meet Fred

[stephanier.1765]

Even though my son is a little old to be doing the whole caterpillar/cocoon thing, we still find it interesting and couldn't resist capturing this little guy to see if he would make a cocoon for us. We discovered him devouring my new orange tree so he is really a bad caterpillar and I firmly believe part pig. He can go through 4 or 5 leaves a day! No wonder my poor orange tree was naked. So here is a picture of Fred hungrily munching on his lunch.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Do you know what kind of a caterpillar Fred is?

[Old Dominion Heather]

oooh... we call those bag worms. They can devastate fruit trees around here. They make these big white bag like nests. Around here we torch them.

 

They are very soft and fuzzy though!

[stephanier.1765]

He's an Eastern Tent Caterpillar and will eventually turn into a seriously ugly moth. Like many creatures, he makes for a much cuter baby. ;)

[newlifemom]

He's an Eastern Tent Caterpillar and will eventually turn into a seriously ugly moth. Like many creatures, he makes for a much cuter baby. ;)

 

LOL!

[stephanier.1765]

Here is what a nest looks like and a picture of what he'll eventually become.

[mommy4ever]

EEwww... That nest is nasty..lol. The moth seems ok, but with no size comparison.

 

I detest caterpillars, due to the fact that one year they were so bad, you'd walk and they fall from the trees and onto you. Looks like a cool project, even at 15 ;) but this mama would have the heebie jeebies..lol

[Ailaena]

Here is what a nest looks like and a picture of what he'll eventually become.

 

 

I was thinking, "Tee hee, fuzzy Caterpillar!"

 

Then I saw the nest and went :svengo:

 

 

 

 

Still, you're never too old to appreciate nature, right?

[ChristusG]

One caterpillar is okay.....but that nest looks icky!!!

[stephanier.1765]

Look what Fred did over night. I can't believe we kept him alive and in the right conditions to do it. :w00t:

Edited March 26, 2011 by slr1765

[ChristusG]

I gotta tell ya....we did this one time. We caught a caterpillar outside, put it in a jar, and waited. It spun a cocoon in no time and went inside. We watched for about 10 days, when it finally emerged. Well, I took one look at the thing and thought that nature had gone horribly awry!! It was malformed!! And ugly!! There was the body of an ugly grayish moth - but it had no wings!!! I thought something was wrong. Then I looked it up.....it was actually a female moth whose only job was to hatch, lay eggs right outside the cocoon, and then die. :001_huh: Hence, no need for wings. LOL! And no mouth either because they didn't have the time or the need to eat. Freaked me out at first! It was a white marked tussock moth, by the way.

[joannqn]

I think we'll stick with the lovely Painted Ladies that we can order and release.