While watering my garden yesterday, I noticed that my tri-color caladium, sitting on the edge of my pond had gone completely bald! On closer look, I nearly touched a HUGE little green monster which really made me jumped at least a foot away! Thats the first caterpillar Ive seen in my garden and it was as big as my thumb! Im very geli (squimish) when it comes to caterpillars especially as huge as this one! Quickly I pushed it away with a stick and it dropped straight into the pond...probably an early lunch for the koi fish waiting underneath...
a perfectly beautiful, healthy pot of tri-color caladium....
Or so I thought....This morning I saw another one munching away at the last piece of leaf in the pot! But this one a little bit kurus (thinner) than yesterday's one, probably so since all the leaves were gone into the fat one's stomach!
....all the leaves gone completely botak (bald)!
the culprit....an ugly little green monster munching happily on the last piece of leaf!Im wondering which type of butterfly this little green monster belongs to? Maybe it will turn out to be a beautiful colourful butterfly after all, but what a ugly phase it has to go through before it can transform into something so delicate and beautiful!
.jpg)
20 comments:
It's very ironic that you are wondering what type of beautiful butterfly the young worm will transform into with concerning the bug's attack against your plants!
Can you wait for beautiful butterfly entertaining you?
I definitely can't.
They can much to their heart content until all the leaves are botak. I am so used to them right now that I just pick it up with my fingers.
Oh, no! Really botak! What a good appetite it has. There are probably hundreds of them here, small and big. I thought they are terrible till the baby grasshoppers arrive.
wow! thats a lovely shot of the caterpillar.
They certainly are hungry critters. And Caladium have BIG leaves. All that munching and all you get is a grasshopper?
The caterpillar will soon learn to dive or swim under water.
You better find another trick then.
Takaeko, I was just wondering that monster belonged to which butterfly...but of course Im not going to wait since its going to munch all my foliage before it transforms!
Wah Diana, so brave of you to pick them by your fingers! They do bite right? Or make you gatal all over...
One Ive seen grasshoppers in my garden, but caterpillars...first time and so huge too!
Arati, thank you but Im not pleased with the subject! :)
Donna, Im not waiting for them to munch through my garden..well you can guess what happened to that monster!
Rainfield, hope not..I bet my koi fish had a delicious juicy meal!
huge caterpilar! he must have had quite a meal with the leafs. Hope your plant recovers
Oh my I think I would wonder as well after I fed him to the wildlife...your poor plant..I hope it recovers
I think my plants will recover Fer, thank you, I can see new shoots coming out! Must check closely on them in case more pests are coming.
Donna, seeing that ugly thing, I couldnt help wondering if Ive seen the Mommy fleeting around in my garden. For all you know, the Mommy could turn out to be a cute tiny butterfly!
That caterpillar looks an awful lot like a tomato horn worm which turns into a moth. Tomato horn worms are native to the United States but maybe you have a relative? I invite you to look at a post I did on this caterpillar http://gardeningsoul.blogspot.com/2010/08/caterpillars-hard-at-work.html
and you can see if it looks similar to you.
Karin, I've seen your hornworm caterpillar, it was such a beauty but a nasty pest. Indeed it looked almost the same as the one in my garden minus the lovely patterns it had.I inspected my tomato plants but couldnt find a single caterpillar there but only occasional white mealy bugs. Thank you so much for showing me your post on the caterpillars, it was very informative.
Your plant is going for a "haircut"... of course it will grow back, probably better with caterpillar poo. Sedih!.. haha.
I hate caterpillars! I see them all the time in my garden..... Everytime i see a butterfly.....i use to imagine the caterpillars......phobia.....
I often go thru the dilema of whether to keep the plant or the caterpillar.
Finally I found a middle way, I put the caterpillar in jar and give to my little one to take care. Often feeding it leaves in a controlled manner.
Eventually the caterpillar will go on a survival mode and turn quickly into a pupa and finally a butterfly.
We often exnjoy the moment of releasing them with my 7 year old son excitement.
So, next time you find one - keep it, and feed it and see it turn to a bearutiful butterfly.
Eeww..!! I thought what monster you were talking about. Very geli lah! Koi can eat this?
I'm really sorry for your Caladium! These are risks of gardening... :D
Bangchik, after 2 days, my caladium has grown new leaves! So happy but now keep a look out for any new caterpillars..
Malar, I see only white cute white butterflies in my garden, but this caterpillar is a huge monster, cant be its mommy, right?
James, I want my garden full of butterflies but I hate the caterpillars! Good idea to keep them in jars, but Im the geli type, no way Im going to have them as pets!
Milka, I supposed so, when it dropped into the pond Im sure the fish thought it was a huge worm and grabbed it!haha..
Dona, thank you, yes they have grown back thank goodness for that!
Glad your plant is growing back. Butterflys are beautiful but no question they can be destructive in the first stages.
Cher
Goldenray Yorkies
Post a Comment