Caterpillars - Blog Posts

because you guys asked…

caterpillars! (There are 4 but one was at the very bottom of the container and i didnt want to disturb him)

@extremereader, @acewithobsessions, @inkscapedoodles

Some after work Instagram browsing brought up an unexpected gem today as it randomly decided to show me some automatons.

I haven't seen any since childhood, where I vaguely recall them featuring on quirky supernatural or spooky shows as creepy curiosities from time to time.

I hadn't realised that they were still made or indeed that they could be made into such beautiful creations. With serenely swimming whales, cantering horses and fluttering birds & insects.

I decided to see if I could make a basic one using bits and bobs from my room. This ended up including black card, scissors, a bamboo skewer from one of my orchids, wire and wire clippers, a thin cylindrical ice cream stick that I saved from a kulfi, and hot glue and my glue gun.

It took a bit of time to wrap my head around the (admittedly very basic) mechanics and the end result is liable to come apart at the seams if I so much as think about turning the mechanism too vigorously. But I am happy with my first attempt.

If I can figure out how to make a less slap dash mechanism then I might make a realistically painted deaths head hawk moth automaton. I am rearing some caterpillars of this species so I am ever so slightly obsessed with them at the moment. You can see the caterpillars at the top of this post and I don't think I am alone in thinking they are absolutely gorgeous little buggers.

comic done for a project assignment a few years back!

Look at da baby bois!

a mess of mature promethea moth caterpillars (Callosamia promethea) wriggling plumply after spending a little less than a month fattening up on wild cherry leaves

a smaller relative of the cecropia moth, these are one of the less well-known giant silkmoths in the US, but they might just be my favorite species to raise.

(Massachusetts, 8/20/23)

🌱inner growth🌱

I had a lot of fun with this one :) it went mush further than I had originally planned, but the end result was much better than I expected ☺️ the hardest part was putting together all the smaller components since they were done on different bits of canvas paper, but I managed to stitch them all together with the magic of technology 😅

September 2nd, 2023

On August 31st, we went to Jacobsburg. When we waddled over to the bird area, we saw that a Fall Webworms nest had fallen out of the tree and onto the ground. There was some storms I think the day before and since the Fall Webworms lay their eggs and make their nest on the edge of branches in trees, it is a very likely thing to happen. I hope all the baby Fall Webworms survive.

Fall Webworms are considered pests and can sometimes even be confused as invasive species. Fall Webworms are actually native to North America. They can be found all over, even up to Canada and down to Mexico. Fall Webworms do not harm trees or plants. They are actually one of the most important pollinators for our trees and many other native plants. The only "harm" they do is cause cosmetic damages.

A female Fall Webworm will make her nest on the ends of branches, taking a few leaves into the nest. She will then lay her eggs in there. The baby Fall Webworms will eventually hatch into caterpillars and feed on the leaves inside the nest. As they get older and bigger and stronger, they will go deeper into the nest to eat the leaves inside.

Fall Webworms are a native species that is beneficial to North America.