Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Wondering about tent worms

Was walking around the other day and I noticed where I had an old step ladder leaning up against a bbq unit, there was a vine that was between them that didn't look quite right. On closer inspection, I saw a bunch of caterpillars. They look like tent caterpillars to me, but could be wrong, since there is no sign of a tent or web. Maybe they are all bunching up for the winter, although the last few days have been in the 80's or high 70's. Maybe they know because of the shorter daylight? If you know for sure what they are let me know. I have never seen them bunch up like this:

Well, to my surprise, when I turned to head back to the house, I spotted this other bunch hiding behind a limb:

I moved the limb away to expose them and took another picture:

There are not as many in this bunch as in the first one I saw. I wonder why there are two bunches so close to each other when they could have all bunched up together? Maybe they disagree on politics, religion, etc. Or maybe they are the Hatfield and McCoys. Or maybe they feel that being separated gives them more of chance of survival if one group is discovered. Wonder how may other bunches of them are around that area that I did not see? Don't forget, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Changing the subject, Ben stated this in his blog that he posted this morning, "Been noticing that on several blogs I follow, the authors are cutting way back on postings!! HEY GUYS!!! What the hell the rest of us supposed to read?" OK, Ben, are you happy now?

Now, I better go out and figure out how to get rid of those caterpillars and see if I can find any more of them. You all have a good day.
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5 comments:

  1. OldfoolNovember 23, 2010 at 11:03 AM

    wasp and hornet spray from the dollar store pretty much does them in. They are like cockroaches, it you see one then you have thousands or so I'm told. I go into the "Chemical Alli" mode when I see them.

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  2. Dizzy-DickNovember 23, 2010 at 11:07 AM

    Thanks Oldfool, I will do just that. They can be a real pest. Have you ever seen them bunch up without a web like these did?

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  3. HermitJimNovember 23, 2010 at 2:06 PM

    Strange to see them all bunched up like that! Must be signs of a cold Winter coming...or something!

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  4. Ben in TexasNovember 23, 2010 at 2:14 PM

    Are those the dreaded "army worms"? shoot, try spraying them with a simple 50/50 of dish washing soap and water. OR could they be the larvae of some butterfly? Like monarch? or Swallow tail?

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  5. Dizzy-DickNovember 23, 2010 at 2:50 PM

    OK, I have done some searching on the internet and have ruled out tent worms or tent caterpillars. They could be armyworms, but the stripes look different than the pictures that I could find and mine have white spots on the heads. Will do some more searching to make sure they are not butterfly larvae of some sort. Anyone out there know for sure?

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