They're gone

Forgive the lack of photo on this post, but there's a good reason. Remember those io moth caterpillars that I said were disappearing?. Indeed, they're gone (hence the lack of photo). They didn't seem large enough to be ready to pupate, but who knows. Or maybe one of those huge crows that haunts our office gobbled them up. Who knows. I guess that's the way nature works.

"So they all rolled over and one fell out"

Lone io moth caterpillar
Originally uploaded by Gardening in a Minute

Do you remember that nursery rhyme that used to go like this?

There were ten in the bed and the little one said
Roll over!
Roll over!
So they all rolled over and one fell out.

I was thinking of this yesterday when I left the office and then again when I came in this morning. Why? Because those cute little io moth caterpillars are already dwindling in number. When I left last night there were only six.



This morning there was only one.

Did they get tired of being snuggled up against their brothers and sisters? Did the little one ask them to all roll over? Or did some bird come and whisk a few of them away for a snack? Who knows. I keep hoping they're hiding under a leaf and I just didn't see them, but I doubt it.

On an interesting note, the redbud tree they were on is already showing flower buds. Seems a bit early since it's now October and these trees normally flower in the spring. Wonder what's going on there.

They're baaaack!

It looks like we've got a fresh crop of io moth caterpillars on one of the redbud trees outside the office. Jen noticed them last night as she was leaving work. This time they're on the opposite tree from the last group of io caterpillars that were here in August.

I watched them for a little bit this morning. There are nine of them this time, and they're all clumped on a single branch. Funny. I wonder if they like to be around their brothers and sisters. I think they'll have to pick a new branch soon -- the one they're on is darn near defoliated.

It will be interesting to see how long this batch stays before they disappear. The last batch was around for maybe two weeks before they all vanished. I assume they pupated, but I never did see any coccoons, apparently because they leave the host plant in order to pupate.