Whenever I see a curled leaf—especially in my garden—I get curious about what’s inside the burrito. In this case, I’m pretty sure it’s a tobacco budworm or fruitworm, neither of which I want in my veggie garden. Sorry little wormie!
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Tag: caterpillar
The hungry caterpillar(s)
Teensy little leaves being eaten by teensy little caterpillars.
Manduca sexta
Here’s something interesting: hornworms’ hemolymph (blood) is blue, coloured by a protein called insecticyanin. The foliage they eat contains carotenoids, which are primarily yellow in hue. The resulting combination (blue + yellow) gives them their green colouring. If fed a wheatgerm-based diet in a lab, these caterpillars are turquoise due to the lack of carotenoids in their diet.
Both tobacco hornworms and the very similar tomato hornworms are big fans of Solanaceae (nightshades like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, tobacco), but they also eat crucifers, legumes, eucalyptus, ficus, and other plants.
papilio zelicaon
Hiking in Santa Ynez Canyon yesterday, Annette spotted this Anise Swallowtail caterpillar munching on wild fennel, their preferred food source.
hashiworks 