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Look Closely, You Never Know
What You Might See In Your Garden Mesquite Moth Caterpillar One afternoon I happened to see this unusually colorful caterpillar, on the end of a young mesquite tree branch, where it systematically chewed away at the leaves. The Sphingicampa was quite colorful and had shiny reflective spines down its back. One thing nice about finding an unusual caterpillar is that it won't run away. Not very quickly, anyhow. The hard part is finding it in the first place because they can blend in so well with the foliage.
I thought this might be a true Mesquite Moth Caterpillar, Sphingicampa hubbardi, except its coloring and horns are a bit different. What it would look like once it matured is unknown to me. Whatever it morphed into, it sure was interesting as a caterpillar. Robber Fly With a Meal The Robber Fly is a fairly common visitor to my garden and very cooperative when it comes to taking pictures. The predator can often be found eating other insects, especially honey bees. The robber fly is usually fairly large and pretty easy to spot during the summer months as shown in the two photographs below.
What's not so common is the small, stripped abdomen Robber Fly I found feeding on the end of a stem of a native shrub early one morning. At first glance I thought I'd discovered something out of the pages of An Insect World Guide to the Kama Sutra. Here were two insects that looked like they might be in the throws of passion and certainly oblivious to my presence.
I had plenty of time to head back into the house to get a camera and move in close to take a couple of photographs. Once I moved in close, and had a chance to look through the camera's viewfinder, was when I understood what was really happening between the two insects. It was a simple case of survival. One was the predator, the other the prey. What I had thought were two similar insects were actually two different species. One looked like a flying ant the other a robber fly of some type that I'd never seen before and might never see again. I was happy to have witnessed the event and even more so to have captured the moment with a camera. The Gator Headed Moth I was out making my rounds through the garden checking things out to see if I could spot a few insects to photograph when I stumbled across the creature pictured below. This was one of those instances where you have to scratch your head and ask yourself, "What the heck is that?" And then try to grab as many pictures as you can before it's gone. The little creature is like a UFO. You might see it, but you're not quite sure it's for real. Maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you or maybe you took the wrong blood pressure medicine that morning. This was one of those moments for me. The closer I looked the odder the insect appeared. It looked like a cross between an alligator and a moth of some sort. Fortunately it was small, less than an inch in length. If it has been much larger it would really be scary looking. I somewhat expected it to open its mouth and I'd see rows of razor sharp teeth ready to rip into anything it could get a grip on. From its appearance, it had to be one heck of a predator or maybe it looked the way it did just to scare away predators. I don't know. I was lucky to get a couple of photographs before it was gone. Maybe I should have given a call to Ripley's Believe It or Not.
What a great looking little insect to have visited my garden. I hope it enjoyed his or her stay as much as I enjoyed knowing it had been there. So next time you're out in your garden keep your eyes open and your camera close because you never know what you might find. (2010) |
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