One Hundred Polyphemus (Silk) Caterpillars

One Hundred Polyphemus (Silk) Caterpillars!

 

 

I have been busy this past month feeding about one hundred caterpillars.  These are Polyphemus moth caterpillars (also called Silk moths).  I have plenty of pictures of the caterpillars.  Soon I will have many more pictures of the Polyphemus (Silk) moth!

 

Here are some pictures that I managed to take while feeding all of these caterpillars their host plant:



Polyphemus (Silk) moth caterpillar feeding on host plant, Oak tree.

 

Polyphemus (Silk) moth caterpillars looking for host plant, Oak tree.

 

This is when the Polyphemus (Silk) moth caterpillars first hatched.  There were only a few caterpillars that I was able to take a picture of.  They are so small when they first hatch!  You can only imagine how fast the food gets eaten from all of these.

 

Their eggs are white.  These caterpillars have red heads when they first hatch.  Their bodies are green with organge/yellow spikes or spines.

See more pictures by M&M Pleasures

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Today I saw a beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly flying around in my backyard.  It fed on the zenas in my backyard.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

I love the black stripes on these butterflies.  It is amazing to watch them fly.  Eastern Tiger Swallowtail buterflies also have black stripes on their bodies like in the picture above.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly


They have such beautiful colors!

Sulphur Butterflies

Sulphur Butterflies

Today I saw some beautiful Sulphur butterflies!  I love to see these butterflies fly around in my backyard. 

There were two kinds of Sulfur butterflies that I saw this morning:

1. Cloudless Sulphur butterfly





Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly

These Sulphurs have more of a cloudy yellow color.



Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly

Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly

Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly



2. Large Orange Sulphur butterfly





Large Orange Sulphur Butterfly

The Large Orange is one of my favorite Sulphur butterflies.  Their bright yellow color attracts my attention.

I love to watch the different kinds of yellow Sulphur butterflies flying around in my backyard and feeding on my zenas.

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Today's Butterfly

Today's Butterfly

The butterfly I spotted in my backyard today was a Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.  These two below were on my ash tree.



Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies

Later I found the caterpillars feeding on some pipevine in my backyard.  I have a picture of them below.



Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar



Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars