Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: larva

10...yes, TEN more pictures in notes above! ENJOY THE SHOW!! :D I can't believe how much fun I've been having raising caterpillars from eggs! To bring you up to date, I brought a small twig into the house on July 25, which had some eggs on it. I discovered that they were from Clio Tiger Moths after finding one laying eggs exactly like the ones I had. Although the stick was literally only a tiny fraction of the number I found, I was amazed when the eggs hatched and there were so many itty bitty caterpillars crawling around! They were so small I could just barely see them! I got them some milkweed leaves to eat, and every day since I've been bringing them fresh leaves and keeping their habitat clean and increasing the size of their container as they've grown. (You can read the original story of the caterpillars here: Piggy 'Pillar!! ) Now, I have read that caterpillars grow fast, but I've never raised them before now, and I have to tell you: it's absolutely AMAZING how fast they grow!!! In one month's time, they have grown from about 1/16" in size to about 1.5" for the largest ones!! It's just incredible to me! In order to get that huge so quickly, all they do during the night is eat, and they sleep all day like a bunch of gluttenous oinkers! :D Today I wanted to show one of the big ones next to a quarter so you can see how huge they've become! At last count, I have about 50 of them, which is surprising because only about 5 of them have died. As I'm sure you probably know, the reason so many eggs are layed is because the survival rate is extremely low, so with the huge number of offspring, at least a few may make it to adulthood. We'll see how many live until pupal stage, but I will bet it will be at least 40. The largest are getting close to pupal stage, and I just can't wait to watch that show!! STAY TUNED!!! I added a bit of texture to the background from Jerry Jones , using his Fire Damage 10-21-09 TOTD # 87 image for the edging! THANKS JERRY!! :) George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. Wikipedia: Orson Welles Explored on August 27, 2013. Highest position, page 3 (#65).

2 more pictures in notes above! :) Here you can see just how HUGE these caterpillars are getting! But as they grow, their hair styles change! I think this version is especially fancy and spectacular, don't you?! :D Did you know that caterpillars molt as they grow? These caterpillars leave behind tiny, fluffy "pompadours", and as they grow larger, the "pompadours" get larger too! My husband thinks that I may be certifiably insane because I can't bear to throw away the fluffy little "wigs"...so, one of these days you will all get to see my collection of tiny little caterpillar "wigs"! :D :D They look like miniature Tribbles! :D

1 picture above in a link! :D This guy really would like to get back to bed and isn't interested in helping me out with size comparisons! But isn't he adorable?!! :D I added a bit of texture to the background from Jerry Jones , using his Netherworld TOTD # 128 image! THANKS JERRY!! :)

It was pretty funny trying to keep this guy near the quarter. He kept crawling away, and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep! :D Poor fellow, I made sure to tuck him back in with his buddies after this picture! :)

Tiny cricket with Cigar Casebearer moth larva Thanks to Phil Huntley-Franck for identification information!

I found this ladybug pupa adhered to a rock, ready to transform into a ladybug! How cool is that?! :) *bounces around*

[best appreciated at full size against black] The other day I posted an image of a budding Miniature Lupine. Right after I took that picture, I noticed something moving just ahead of me in the grass. I didn't have to look closely, because this guy is a good 1" long and he was ga-lumphing along like a walrus out of water being chased by a land shark! He's so chubby I thought the earth would shake as he moved by! When I looked at my pictures on my computer, I couldn't believe it! This guy looks just like a Graboid from one of my all-time favorite movies, Tremors!! He even looks like he's exploding out of the ground! In fact, I would not be at all surprised if they didn't use a larvae like this as a model. I have absolutely NO IDEA what this will turn into, but it certainly didn't behave like a regular caterpillar. It didn't have feet except at the hind end, and I think those were just for hanging by when it makes its coccoon. I think it might be some kind of beetle larvae? Whatever it was, it was freakin' me out! :D Cool Trivia Fact: My husband worked on many of the miniature special effects for Tremors!! Yay Steve!! This image was taken in April, 2012.

Look at this tiny cutie pie!! I've seen these itty-bitty guys on the wall in our bathroom every once in a while, but this is the first time I've actually gotten reasonable pictures. No longer than 1/8" long, this Box Elder Bug larva looks like a dark speck on the wall! As I took pictures, I noticed that he crept very slowly up the wall, at a speed I could barely detect! Amazing!

After I took the previous pictures, I saw this cutie pie crawling up the stem of an allium plant! I was amused to see that juvenile ladybugs are just as fast as adults! This one zoomed up and down the stems, rarely stopping. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to get a clear picture, which was no small feat, as it was also windy and the stem was blowing back and forth! :D This is my favorite, and when I showed the 6 different choices to Steve, he picked this one out too without any prompting from me! :)