Year of the Caterpillars

I don't know what it is this year with all the caterpillars we are finding in the garden; but it sure is something. We've certainly never experienced this before. Angie got the SEEK app installed on her phone and it's really helped us ID these creatures.

Here is what we've seen in the last couple weeks. I'm going to borrow a moth image for each caterpillar to share so you can see what they may turn into if they make it to that stage. Now in no particular order...

Banded Tussock Moth caterpillar

After our little photo shoot inside and ID'ing, I put him back outside in the area where I found him. Good luck little one!

I hope to spot one as an actual moth in the near future. I can pretend it was this caterpillar, right?

Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars. There is easily 75+ of them on our one swamp milkweed plant.

They are so small but so colorful.

Almost a week later, they are still out there. My how they have developed.

With how many Milkweed Tussock moth caterpillars we have, we should see a few of them as actual moths.

What we believe may be a Saddled Prominent.

If I saw this, I don't think I would know how to ID it without that app. There are so many moth species out there.

I found one very similar to this caterpillar below in my shed a couple weeks ago. I was rather preoccupied with something else and moved him to safety since he was where I was working. It was a small, fuzzy, yellow caterpillar that tapered down at the back end. If I'm correct, it was a Definite Tussock Moth caterpillar. I borrowed this image from a search of fuzzy yellow caterpillars in Ontario.

Seeing photos of the Definite Tussock moth, I am fairly confident that is it. There are a few of these nightly now, or what looks like this, on the orange halves we have out for the Baltimore Orioles.

Then there was this odd looking one hanging from another tree out back. He was just out of reach for me to bring inside for a better photograph, and the opportunity to ID. A mystery but with so many others we've been able to ID, I can live letting this one get away. I used my headlamp on him as the camera flash turned him completely white.

And of course let's not forget the Monarch Butterfly caterpillar who was blog worthy.

We've been asked what became of the Monarch caterpillar. He disappeared and we like to think he went deeper into our garden to go through the next stages of his life. I keep an eye out for him, be it the cocoon or a fresh new Monarch. We shall see.

Some people understand why Angie and I feel no need to leave the backyard during the summer months. Perhaps a few more will get it after reading this blog?

Of course after I publish this, what appears on the kitchen window screen but another caterpillar! I took a couple photos of him.

I then coaxed him onto a small stick to get him off the screen as that's no place for a caterpillar to hang out, and nothing to eat.

I then moved him to the nearest tree and off he went. I'm leaning towards another Banded Tussock but something looks a little different. We found that with the SEEK app, that sometimes it doesn't pick up the insects but the plant that it is on. So taking photos and loading them onto the computer screen, having blown the photos up to just the insect does help with ID'ing. We shall see.