momoese

Eric , does it have a horn on the end? It looks kinda like a Tomato Horn worm.

"A natural predator of the tomato hornworm is a tiny beneficial insect called the braconid wasp. This wasp lays its eggs inside the hornworm. As they hatch, they eat their way out, killing the hornworm in the process. It's a bit off-putting to see this creature on your plants, but you're better off letting him be and letting the wasps do their job. Once they hatch, they'll be enough braconid wasps to keep your garden hornworm free."

john_ny

It's funny that the two postings, above, (Eric's & Ja Nan's) are one after the other, because they may be related. Eric's picture looks like a hornworm; there are several, like tomato hornworm, tobacco hornworm, etc. A parasitic wasp lays eggs in the body of the catepillar. When they hatch, they chew their way out, and attach their little cocoons to the surface of the catepillar. If you Google hornworm, horned moth, hawk moth, etc., you can find lots of pictures.
I usually have some Mandevillas, in the garden, for the summer. Ocasionally, I'd get some seed pods, but not every year and, usually, not very many. Then I read that they had to be pollinated by a hawk moth. If you look at a Mandevilla flower you, right away, don't see any reproductive parts. They are way down deep in there, so you would need something with a long proboscis, or tongue, to reach them. I guess we don't have very many hawk moths around here, hence the sparcity of seed pods.

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John

turtile

That is an American Snout Butterfly. The snout helps the butterfly camouflage on twigs by looking like a petiole and the wings the leaf.

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LilRaverBoi

COOL! Yeah, Eric is very likely correct on that...caterpillars are in the larval stage of growth and are incapable of laying eggs till they reach maturity/adult stages. So those definitely aren't the eggs of the caterpillar....so I kinda feel sorry for it. Looks cool, though! Well, that or it's just his Halloween costume....he was going as a sheep this year

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BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Eric

He was going as a sheep this year!?!?!!!! ROFLMAO!!
Seriously, (soon as I stop laughing about the sheep thing) Thanx for all the Super info, guys! Will check that stuff out some more, for Sure! It was found near the tomato arbor & we were growing LOTS of tomatoes this year so that makes sense! Nice to know we got some of those wasps around, hope there are more eggs somewhere. Think I'll keep a close eye on this thing - to see what it turns into - then relocate him somewhere in the south Pacific ocean! Don't need to be taking risks cause I totally Luv fresh tomatoes !!
Awesome looking catepillar, though, just wish it didn't like tomatoes, too.

Abnshrek

The catepillar is cool looking. We had one come odd a pine tree that darker and larger. I think my chickens ate it.. lol I know pork chop (pig) didn't.. I have a ton of baby chameleons running around. keeping my bananas free of pests :^)

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sunfish

sunfish

Jananas Bananas

My 11/04/09 little critters:

This little guy is not more than two inches tops - so cute!


Top side of the garden spider


Bottom Side


~JaNan

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Jananas Bananas

AV1611Corbin777

Well not bugs, I guess some would consider them critters.
My Bearded Dragon

This little 5 lined skink lurked his way inside

Not a pet but cute.

Again not a pet.

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Jananas Bananas

That Bearded Dragon is waaaay cool! The little skink is cute.

Here is a liitle black and gold spider I snapped this morning eating a fly.



~JaNan

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Jananas Bananas

Jananas Bananas

Took this today with my cell phone at the Zilcher Park Botanical Gardens:



~JaNan

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Jananas Bananas

mjdsinsacto

nice Kodak moment.

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sunfish

mjdsinsacto

young praying mantis--he hung around for a few days, and then was gone. from the coloring and size, i suspect he might have just hatched when i snapped this shot.

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lorax

Here's an assortment of my bugs....

A furry fly - these are aroid pollinators


A truly gigantic Kaydid - this was more than 6" long


Glass Cricket


Song Cricket


Grasshopper


Mini-Locusts - these will get bigger


Monarch caterpillar on milkweed


Green Scarab - another aroid pollinator, crawled out of my neigbour's Philo blooms.


Orb Web Spider


Tarantula - wild

lorax

And also:

Leafcutter ants

LilRaverBoi

Wow, those are some excellent shots, Beth!!! You must have a pretty nice camera. Every time I take close shots like that they come out all sorts of blurry.

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

mjdsinsacto

Those macro shots make me want to ransack the house for my camera manual.

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LilRaverBoi

Even with my macro setting on, my camera won't do anything comparable. Hmmmm....

__________________
BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!