NYFalls.com Talk

Am I supposed to give it away or let people guess?

[spoiler]Cecropia moth[/spoiler]

No peeking! lol It grows into a really cool moth, which I've never seen, this one would have wintered over in a cocoon (I shot that pic in September) and emerged as a moth the next spring. I think they only live a few days as adults.

The white spots on this one are some kind of parasite or fungus or some disease. He would stop eating once in a while and tug at them trying to get them off. You can see where some of them have damaged his skin so much it's turned black, probably necrotized.

That is one crazy looking caterpillar!

Mike called me from one of the guest cabins this morning to say that there was a big walking stick on one of the windows again, so I grabbed the camera and a ruler and toddled down there to grab a photo. I'm thinking that this robust girl might be ready to lay some eggs!

I've never seen one of these. Awesome!

Thanks! It's interesting how they hold their front legs forward while resting so that it looks like they only have two pairs of legs. Supposedly, it's to make them look even more twig like. They can also regenerate limbs as they molt, if necessary. I guess that we have an "infestation" of them this year, though I've not noticed any significant tree damage. I was reading that this will happen in particular if a piece of land is isolated by roads or streams, which we are. I'm not too worried about it, as the birds will bring them back into balance.

What a great shot Brenda...I'm glad you grabbed the ruler, it gives a great perspective on their size. Especially for someone like me that has never seen one.

Thanks Bill! They are fascinating little creatures. I found some really interesting information about them in this article: http://northernwoodlands.org/knots_and_ ... paritions/ My front woods, where the guest cabins are located, have a wide variety of their preferred browse.

I am SO bummed. I had a beautiful orb web spider (species unknown) at one of my guest cabins. She was off to the side of the front porch, and I noticed her while I was cleaning yesterday. I didn't have time to get a photo of her before our guests checked in, and guess what? When I went down there to take some photos of her while they were out and about today, both she and the web were gone.