I've only got one image...when I went back out to get another one...(only 5 minutes and 10 feet away) it was gone. No birds or predators...it just crawled off. It is the only one...no colony. About 1" or a bit less long....these are 'mini zinnias'. I'd like to know who he was going to grow up to be.
I don't know, but I would love to see more pics of your mini zinnias!
My mini zinnias are suffering in the drought, but I ought to have seeds this fall when I quit deadheading. I'll try and get some more BF shots with them though.
The drought has been terrible, and I'm sure that nectar plants in the wild are suffering too. We've mowed our 4 acre yard 6 times since spring...I usually mow every 5 days and can't keep it knocked down.
I have a *yard*, not a lawn. The white clover, plantains, hop clover, chickweed, fescue, korean clover, nutsedge, and assorted wildings usually make for an interesting mix of flora and fauna, but even they are crispy and wilted.
I think a wasp may have been the culprit on my missing cat,...I had several in the area today.
Sounds like a perfect wildlife and butterfly habitat and you probably have zillions of butterflies there, don't you?
Of course, the drought right now is nasty for them and it will be interesting to see how it affects the summer Butterfly counts.
We have quite a discussion going on a number of threads in the Annuals forum about zinnias and the different varieties. No on has talked much about mini-zinnias, though.
This feller seems to fall in that 'mite be this or mite be that' area .. (for me, this time of the night!) .. lol
Seems that he'd fall more along the lines, of one of the various cut worms or army worms tho'. I'm not sure ..
Some very similar caterpillars for you to check out ..
Striped Garden Caterpillar > http://bugguide.net/node/view/30012 .. & ..
http://bugguide.net/node/view/91503
* I got a hunch about this'un .. but haint sure, mindja! (heehee)
Yellow-striped Armyworm Moth > http://bugguide.net/node/view/25331
Remember too, that these fellers go thru several different phases of colorations and 'patterning' (stripes broaden &/or multiply, etc).
- Magpye
I had a hunch too Magpye when I was hunting around all of the caterpillar images and suspected an armyworm, but nothing looked right. Your image looks the closest. Thanks!
I've had the exact same thing on my zinnias. I thought maybe they are eating my leave because there is holes all over the plants. It has been extremely hot here in FL. so don't know if that has something to do with it. Have sprayed but doesn't help. Hope it doesn't kill my plants! They are getting huge and would hate to lose the color. ;-)
I've got so many Japanese Beetle holes that I can't tell what's fresh and what's old.
In the last 10 days it doesn't seem to matter much though....everything is crispy. Not much left in the way of pretty color.
