Sometimes you just have to embrace the inevitable

[stoney321]

And I'm not talking about rude people. I'm talking about BUGS. Well, not True Bugs (I love that that is an actual classification - sub order /nerd!) but caterpillars, the final instar stage of the beautiful butterfly/moth.

(Quick mention that I have an entire post dedicated to gardening tips. I don't have time to help people like I used to, so

Comments

[kuzu_no_ha]

I have them in my garden. They are really cool to watch! The cats think they are one of the best shows on window tv.

[stoney321]

I have a fennel plant that is about 5 feet tall (and as much around) that was crawling with swallowtail caterpillars. They're all either in crysalis or have recently hatched. THAT is what my kitties are going crazy over. :D

[kuzu_no_ha]

lol awesome. My fennel is in a place where it can be a douchebag to other plants, as is their way. But I do have the swallowtail on them, and on my dill. Lovers of culinary herbs. It's their promise of beauty that keeps them alive!

[stoney321]

Would it make you crazy to know that I haven't filed my nails in months? I think I've rubbed lotion into my hands twice this summer. I FAIL AT BEING A GIRL.

Grubs I pull out bare-handed. They make me mad (oh, how I hate June Bugs!!) and I delight in flinging them to the birds. They're teeny, though. These things? It's like pulling a three year old off their momma's leg.

YOU DROVE IN ONE DAY? That was crazy, lady. I'm sure it felt good to be home, but LAWS, I have done that, and it's crazy making.

AHAHAHAHA! The Mr. and I had a genuine discussion last night about moving to places where we could have a cliff face AND quinoa for End of Times survival. :D

[stoney321]

THAT IS WHERE DOVIL AND I ATE ON OUR ROAD TRIP!!!!!!

And hahaha, I did not find it that spicy, but then, I remember making you and Anelith cry at my dinner table with a stuffed poblano, so I clearly have no gauge for heat.

[bienegold]

AAAAAAAAH HORNWORMS. The moths are beautiful, but the poor tomatoes!

I have a plot at a community garden that we're splitting with one of my mom's friends. She pointed out a hornworm and then just casually threw it into the next (unclaimed) plot over.

Fortunately that turned out to be the only one, but aaaah my tomatoes!

[stoney321]

No more tomatoes, so no worries! They live on this plant (which is why I keep it, even though it's not the prettiest.)

Check for green, almost translucent "berries" on the underside of the leafs, near the stalk of the plant - those are eggs, and they hatch in 4 days. Squish them (or pull and toss) and cover your plants with netting to keep the moths from coming at night and laying more.

You'll know straight away if you have them - they defoliate FAST.

[ryokomusouka]

Moths and caterpillars freak me right the hell out. *shudder*

[stoney321]

Moths do? Big pretty ones? :(

Caterpillars I get, though.

[ryokomusouka]

Yeah, I'm just not a bug person. Ladybugs barely get by, and the big spider that lives under the siding next to my front door only continues to live because I'm a web designer*. And he eats the littler bugs.

I'm just a big ol' scaredy-cat city kid.

* I kind of adopted spiders as a totem animal of sorts, but that doesn't mean I go out of my way to make them my drinking buddies.

[dareu2beme]

no.

just. no.

I'm gonna hide in my house and pretend is not real.

(but the moth is really pretty)

[stoney321]

THEY ARE. AND THEY ARE CALLING FROM INSIDE YOUR HOUSE! D:

(lol) They ONLY feed on very specific plants, so if you don't have those, you won't see them. :)

[dareu2beme]

LOL! RUDE!

Yeah, I live in the Great White North; we don't have as many bugs. Which is excellent, unless you want to travel, cuz then you really don't have any heebiejeebie coping mechanisms... I still have nightmares of all the new and horrifying bugs we came across on my trip to South Carolina ten years ago when I was 16. LOL.