News That Stays News

At second glance June 16, 2015

May 28, 2015

It turns out that not quite everything is brown and dry. There are some trees and bushes here that keep their leaves all year round. Their leaves are extremely small, extremely tough, or sometimes both. They stand out to me like green beacons, and they must be as easy to find for the moths, because they have plenty of caterpillars, some of which were new to me.

The caterpillar is in the middle of the photo and reddish brown with a couple of black spots

This one is especially odd, because it’s on an acacia tree. Acacias feed and house ants that are supposed to protect the trees from herbivores trying to eat them and other plants trying to grow into or over them. But some ant species aren’t very aggressive and they don’t help the trees, or even hurt them. Since I didn’t get a single sting while I was working at this tree, I don’t think these ants are very good at their jobs. Not only did the caterpillar built its web around some of the hollow thorns the ants are supposed to live in, but it was drinking from one of the nectar glands that’s supposed to feed the ants!