What is that bug?

-
Two years ago in May J. ran into the house screaming about some strange "bug thing" that fell on him out of the tree. It was jumping around and looked very menacing and dangerous. On the outside it looked like a twig or piece of bark that just scraped off of the large oaks we have in the yard. Upon further exploration we found that it had the most beautiful purple belly that didn't quite belong on the same menacing creature with what look like pincers on both ends. To the left you will find a picture of a caterpillar in the same family as the one we found. I'll try to find the pictures we took of our back yard guest for you all, but you get the idea from this one shared from bugguide.net. What we did was submit pictures and a description of our caterpillar to bugguide.net and whatsthatbug.com. After almost two years we have gotten answers to a question that plagued us. We didn't know if the caterpillar was a new species and invasive or poisonous so any news was good news. So with all that said, the name of this fascinating caterpillar that makes itself look so menacing is Catocala Underwing Moth Caterpillar! It sure is a mouthful to say, but a relief to know we aren't having a plague of some kind in our area. Now that we have established the type and we know when to look for them I foresee a very busy boy and his mom paroosing the backyard with magnifying glass and specimen jars in hand. If there is a bug you are not familiar with and you get a chance to snag it in a jar and snap photos; please check out the forementioned websites ask neighbors, and even master gardeners who can sometimes be found at local libraries to find out more information. With that I leave you with pictures of the beautiful caterpillar underbelly, also found at bugguide.net.
Happy Planting, and TGIF!!!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Community Garden Day with Fresh Food on 4th

-
Image
Then it was September As a blogger there can be a little bit of guilt for not posting as regular as one would like... Speaking for myself that is. If there was a way to upload directly from my mind to this page you would experience all of the beautiful images and stories from past events I've attended starting with Community Garden day, to Open Streets Minneapolis, Food Truck Tuesdays & Movie in the Parks, the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, and then to the Minnesota State Fair. Besides these events children around the country have gone back to school including my own which has given me more or less " the time " to grab a few moments to recap and catch you all up on my urban Ag Adventures. So I'll give it a go and start where I left off with my Community Garden Day 2013 experience and in between my food preservation efforts you will get a glimpse into some of the ways Minneapolis grows together.... COMMUNITY GARDEN DAY 2013 John Ghizoni, Ajan
Read more

Eat your backyard

-
Image
Backyard Foraged Salad Foraging was a topic my elderly neighbor who was also a retired science teacher and botanist spoke about constantly. Friends thought my brother and I were crazy when we stopped mid game (football) to pick and eat a juicy looking patch of wood sorrel we spotted on the other side of the fence. I can't remember all of the lessons she taught but I remember her passion for eating local and not overlooking the simplest of plants. It's because of her that I jumped at an opportunity to learn some foraging here in the city. I've participated in some monthly classes that have helped me and by proxy my family, become more of an adventurous eaters. Below is a  picture of a salad foraged from our backyard. We paired it with our baked chicken [no pictured] and this meal was more than a hit!  The greens included lambs quarters, Orach (purple mountain spinach), Plantain, Egyptian walking onions, Wood Sorrel, Flat leaf Parsley, Raspberries, and Purslane. All b
Read more

Mini Green House (1)

-
Image
This is the BIG ~ Mini project we had been putting off due to weather and just pure plain busyness. In our exuberance and excitement over 70 degree weather we transplanted some seedlings too early and didn't heed the cool evening/morning temps nor our strict watering regimen. MY BAD!! **blush ~ blush** I thought it would work out better for me and my two cohorts (hubby and daughter) if we devised a system that could take full advantage of the not so unusual bipolar Minnesota warm then freezing weather without killing all our precious transplants in the process. So since we have ample garden and yard space we took on the task of a greenhouse. I always hear rave revues about this system and truthfully it has been working on a micro level wth the milk jugs so I figured why not? Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself the end result. DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN COMING SOON.
Read more