Saturday, April 25, 2009

Camera Critters #55

When I was a kid growing up in a southside of Chicago suburb, myself and friends of mine would go to nearby open fields and catch insects. A special treat for us was a caterpillar. We would put them in a jar, watch them spin a cocoon then later, turn into a butterfly.

We basically knew which caterpillars turned into which butterfly and traded them like baseball cards. You could get two Monarch caterpillars for one Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar. But the real fun was watching them change.

I have since forgotten everything I knew from youth about caterpillars, but I still photograph then when I come across one. Below are some of the caterpillar photos I have taken in the past couple of years. I don't have good reference on them, some day I hope to find a good reference. But for now, I'll let you imagine what they eventually turned into. In my opinion, most of these are probably moth caterpillars.









I hope you enjoyed my post this week. If you would like to see more Camera Critters, just drop by the website here run by Misty Dawn and then join in the fun with an entry of your own.

25 comments:

Mimi said...

Must be fun playing around with these caterpillars when you were kid. Nice shot of many kinds of caterpillars, they look beautiful on macro shot..

Minie said...

it reminds me of being a kid when i saw these different kinds of caterpillars. happy weekend.

Janie said...

Cool catepillars! I used to collect cocoons when I was a kid, too, but I must admit I had no idea what kind of butterfly to expect.

Dirkjogt said...

Never have seen such caterpillars. Nice pictures!

Misty DawnS said...

Ahhhh finally I get to give you an I.D.! I'm surprised you didn't already know this - I mean, it is rather obvious. OK, that second photo is obviously of the "South American Capallilar". It can easily be determined by the fact that they create the shape of South America when they cluster on the leaves. Don't believe me? I can see you shaking your head and laughing at me... Go ahead - go take a look at that second photo and tell me I'm wrong - go ahead...

P.S. You know my gorgeous, beautiful day? I was woke up by thunderstorms... and insane wind gusts. *sigh* Told ya Mother Nature hates me!

Mimi said...

That second picture looks like an awful lot of them. *shiver*

Anonymous said...

Wonderful shots! So much variety in such tiny critters!

Juliana said...

Second photo is little bit scary ;)

My entry this week: in HERE. I hope that you can stop by as well. Thanks

Kate said...

To return to childhood games would be ever so nice! Great photos. PS How did you get to be #1 on the list today??

The Explorer said...

you have a very unique critters there...i am amazed on the way you capture these creatures

Snap said...

Fuzzies! Wonderful shots. Thank you!

Teena in Toronto said...

It's been a while since I've seen those.

I played too :)

Ladynred said...

Wow! these are great critters! I remember too when I was in School we use to catch insects for projects!

Shey said...

WOWOW! Awesome macro shots! I can clearly see each hair. They have lovely colors too.

Thanks for sharing!

:)

Dianne said...

wow! they took over that leaf

I LOVE this post, thanks for all the great close-ups

I rescue caterpillars from my driveway and carport all the time and put them back in the garden

I know I must look silly bending over and scooping up things that no one else can see but I don't care :)

john said...

Awesome pictures.

Maude Lynn said...

These are really cool! My daughter and I caught one of the orange and black ones yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Great photos!

Anonymous said...

Isn't that nice - It's good to hear that a bunch of kids wasn't killing the poor things. Great shots!

Unknown said...

Wonderful shots!!!

I really like that second one..

We used to collect caterpillars as well. Great fun !!

Manz said...

Amazing macro images!!

I also love the story about when you were young... I think we dump information to make room for other data as we grow older :)

Maria's Space said...

That is a lot of caterpillers

Grammy said...

That is allot of caterpillars on one leave. Great photos.

Adrienne Zwart said...

This is a fantastic post! My kids and I bought a butterfly "garden" kit last summer and raised painted lady butterflies. We also brought in some monarch eggs that hatched, but the little caterpillars escaped through the netting!

My two favorite references for caterpillars are Petersons First Guide to Caterpillars of N. America and Life Cycles of Butterflies by Judy Burris. The latter one includes photos of all stages and the host plants for several of the most common butterflies in our area. (Not sure how many of those species would be in Oregon, but it would be fun to check out from your library.)

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