This tiny line of yellow is a Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) caterpillar that has just shed its skin. Perched atop a leaf of Sicklepod Cassia (Cassia obtusifolia) I found this tiny caterpillar mostly by looking for damage to the leaves. At this stage, these caterpillars are extremely difficult to see and are easier found by searching first for holes in the leaves and second for the creators of those holes.
The tiny line of white behind the caterpillar is its shed skin, telling me that this little darling is in the second instar and therefore is much larger than when it hatched from the egg.
The larvae of Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe) butterflies are even more difficult to spot because those caterpillars are a pale mint green covered in tiny hairs rather than the yellow color of the Cloudless Sulphur larva. The hair on their bodies helps them to blend not just by color but also with the texture of the leaf.
0 comments:
Post a Comment