I'm a bit overwhelmed at the number of caterpillars consuming the leaves of our common milkweed. I happened to be watering and nearly dropped the hose! ...still have goose bumps. I love butterflies and nature but this is a challenge! I'm not sure what they are. Any ID help would be greatly appreciated :)
another photo:
Wow wind, that's a bunch....they are the Milkweed Tussock Moth:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://booksandnature.homestead.com/files/milkweed_tussock_moths1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://booksandnature.homestead.com/moth94.html&h=341&w=372&sz=57&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=llws0OQlBnNb2M:&tbnh=112&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmilkweed%2Btussock%2Bmoth%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DDNUS,DNUS:2006-36,DNUS:en%26sa%3DN
Thank you for the ID. That is them all right
..........figures..........moths not butterflies............did you notice how they devoured the leaves?.......left only a vein shell. Should I just leave them be?
The moths seem to love our plants. Last year it was some type of horned cats on the nicotiana! They started out as little green cats then grew quite large with a horn almost like the tomato hornworm.
Ha, it's always something! I would leave them, they will be a pretty little moth, can you spare the weed?
I'm just going to pretend like I didn't even see them and let them do their thing! It's funny I was just thinking monarc caterpillars liked the milkweed and never considered all the other insects that do too! I've been letting the common milkweed spread in that berm so we can spare it. It is an interesting moth. As interesting as a moth can get I guess. Well the hummingbird moth is neat too.
Happy Gardening :)
Wow wind what a find. I find it interesting that there are different types of milkweed. The ones I have have slim long leaves and I have seen some on here, like yours, with very large leaves. Do they just grow different ones in different places. If I had that many cats on my leaves they would starve to death. Cute little guys I think.
Leslie
nice find Wind. Big congrats
I also find the different types of milkweed interesting. Especially since I wanted to attract butterflies. The one in the photo with the fat leaves is just the common milkweed which is often seen everywhere around here that gets weedy~ woods (what's left of them), along roads etc. We have the long slim leaf ones too: such as tropical milkweed and swamp milkweed.
I just planted the swamp milkweed in a not to "swampy" area! Actually it is not that moist at all except for my watering. But it seems to be growing well so far. You might find this interesting: http://www.butterflyencounters.com/store/products.php
Sure glad I put my coffee cup down before opening this thread. : )
What a hungry group ya got going on there. : )
Sure appreciate the milkweed link you sent. never kne w ther e was so many other different kind s of milkweed like they have. Gonna have to get some and give them a try.
Thanks for the link to all the different milkweeds, Wind. Wow, that's a bunch of them. : )
I am growing the swamp milkweed, also. It hasn't bloomed yet, but the aphids, milkweed bugs, and the butterflies have already found it. : )
My other 2 kinds are the regular milkweed, and a yellow flowering one.
~Lucy
