Caterpillars are Such Cool, Interesting Little Creatures
Two summers ago, when my passion fruit vines thrived, they attracted lots of really cool animals. The leaves fed a plethora of insects, and also provided them with shelter from the elements and predators. The flowers attracted pollinators including lots of butterflies, bees, moths, wasps, and carpenter ants. When the fruit came out, it attracted birds, and although I never saw any, I saw evidence of small rodents. Several types of moths and butterflies laid their eggs on the leaves and stems, and when they hatched there were quite a few caterpillars crawling around. The caterpillars were pretty cool because they came in quite a few sizes, shapes, and colors. They were also cool because they were completely oblivious to my attentions and didn’t mind being photographed. That gave me a great chance to use my then pretty new macro lens (which still happens to be one of my most used tools). This particular caterpillar, a salt marsh moth caterpillar (Estigmene acrea), was a great subject for macro photography and had the most adorable feet in the middle if it’s body. The face and the front feet, the subjects of tonight’s images, aren’t really what I would call adorable, but they definitely very interesting and cool.
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