Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Harmony

I stared at the green caterpillar for a long time.  




I know that the harmony that exists in my garden is fragile and ever-changing.  I don't want the balance to get skewed.  Was this a potential threat?  


Then I heard the back door open, and close.  I looked over the plants toward the house.  "Is this a tomato hornworm?", I called.  


"Where are you?"


"Back here!"  


I was behind the rose garden.  "Is this a tomato hornworm?", I asked again.  I repeated the question so Mr. Holleygarden would come look.  I knew the mere mention of a potentially harmful creature to our garden would make him venture all the way behind the rose garden to take a peek.


Not that I expected him to know if it was a tomato hornworm or not.  We are not the most expert in bugs and creatures.


"See that little horn?"  




"Yes, I see it", he said.  "Maybe you should just go ahead and kill it now."


Whoa!  "But it's on a honeysuckle, not a tomato!"


"Perhaps it's a Luna moth caterpillar.  Let's go look it up."


Whew!  We were back in harmony.  Together we returned to the house, eager to get online and look up images of a green caterpillar with a horn and spots.   




And we found it.


It's the caterpillar of a hummingbird moth. 




I also found out that the hummingbird moths we have been seeing are the Snowberry Clearwing hummingbird moths, or Hemaris diffinis.  The caterpillars eat - you guessed it - honeysuckle, and you can tell the snowberry clearwings by their black legs and the black line across their face. 


This caterpillar, thankfully, was no threat to our garden's natural harmony.  Eventually it will form a black pupa, disguised by leaf litter.  We were both so thrilled!  First, because it wasn't a tomato hornworm.  And secondly, because we have loved seeing these beautiful and interesting creatures flying around the garden.  


Gardeners can talk for hours about fascinating subjects like this!




I'm linking in with Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk for her Word 4 Wednesday meme on Harmony.

46 comments:

  1. It's a beautiful creature. It is with innate kindness that you've given it some thought first before doing anything as supposed to just killing it instantly. In this case you spared it and let it live.

    Creatures that visit and live in our gardens are worth talking about :)

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    1. I hate killing things, and rarely do, even though some of them munch on some of my plants ruthlessly!

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  2. You know? I used to get perturbed when the monarch caterpillar would eat my parsley and then I got to thinking...I don't even EAT parsley, I just grow it for show in my herb garden...so I began to plant more for the worms. Because I would rather have butterflies than parsley. I agree with Mark and Gaz...all creatures great and small have a place on God's earth.

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    1. I need to grow parsley! I love that you grow it for the caterpillars!

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  3. Holley, I think you've got very good helpers in your garden.

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    1. I love seeing all the creatures in my garden. Really, I have encountered very few bad ones in comparison to the good!

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  4. What a fantastic lesson you are passing along today!! It is the exact definition of Integrated Pest Management ... identify the potenial pest and the possible extent of its damage to your crop, and only then should you decide whether to do something about it. Thank you for such a vivid example, and I hope everyone who is reading this learns which bugs are a threat and which ones are not.

    On a vaguely-related side note ... I am fascinated by hummingbird moths. I can sit and watch one for hours!

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    1. I love the hummingbird moths, too. I really do have a lot of them this year! I didn't realize I was doing anything so fancy of a term as Integrated Pest Management! I just thought I was squeamish about killing worms! haha But it really is much better than going around killing everything, especially when I'm not sure what it is!

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  5. I'm glad you and Mr. Holleygarden took the time to look this creature up. Too often gardeners tend to panic when they spy a caterpillar or insect dining on their plants. I've never seen hummingbird moths here, I'm not even sure if we have them in this area, so I'm a little envious you have them, and obviously have some excellent habitat for them too. We're drowning in honeysuckle though...so feel free to direct a few this way, we could use some help to keep it in check ;)

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    1. I'm not sure about the range of the hummingbird moths, either. I would think if you had that much honeysuckle they would be there! What's funny is I planted this little honeysuckle on a whim a couple of years ago and this is the first year it's started looking good. At least, until the caterpillar decided it was going to have it for lunch!

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  6. Beautiful harmony!

    Fascinating process and so glad you checked, I saw my first hummingbird moth over the weekend in Dallas.

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    1. I can remember the very first time I saw one. I didn't know what it was at all, and it was fascinating! I still get that sense of awe each time I see one.

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  7. The nice thing about caterpillars is that they move so slowly that you can go look them up online--or even drive to the library for a good ID book and stop for a coffee on the way back--and they will still be in the same place eating when you're done. Snowberry clearwing definitely wins a prize for prettiest name. Good for you and Mr. Holleygarden for giving the benefit of the doubt--a good rule of thumb for creating harmony of all sorts...

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    1. haha - you are so right! I took some pictures of it that morning, went and looked it up online, did some more gardening, and then that afternoon went back and took more pictures of it! I was actually glad to see it still chewing away!

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  8. I am glad the caterpillar got a chance to live on. What a nice thing you did for the Clearwing as it is really a beautiful creature. Thanks for joining in. Finally home after an eight hour drive. I need a little harmony myself!!!!

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    1. I hope you get some wonderful rest and relaxation tonight. Driving for a long time like that can really wear you out - mentally more than physically, I suppose, but still very tiring.

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  9. Phew that was close, glad the caterpillar survived.

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    1. I hope it lives to be a moth. It's amazing all the things they have to watch out for - gardeners being just one of them!

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  10. I get hummingbird moths, but I've never seen the caterpillars. It's great you were able to identify it so readily. It's coloring is good camouflage.

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    1. I see a lot of caterpillars, but usually don't look them up. I should. The little horn on its back made me a bit worried, as I've been reading a lot about the tomato hornworms. I've yet to encounter them, but I now know what it looks like, too, so I'll be able to act swiftly!

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  11. I'm so glad you checked to see what this one was. I love Hummingbird Moths. :-)

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    1. I love them, too. I hope having an abundance of them is a good thing! They seem to be all over my garden this year!

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  12. I guess your post proves it is wise not to be too hasty! Hummingbird Moths are such unique and interesting little creatures.

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    1. I've never been very hasty when it comes to killing something. Which, yes, I think is good. I would have been upset if we would have killed it then later on found out it was a hummingbird moth caterpillar!

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  13. Oh my word - who would say! Both amazing insects! THanks for sharing.

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    1. The insect world is really fascinating. To go from an egg to a caterpillar, to a pupa and then finally a moth or butterfly! Whew! That's a lot of lives to watch out for!

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  14. The horn is actually pretty big compared to the size of the caterpillar.

    Does Mr. HolleyGarden know that he's called that ?

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    1. haha - yes, he knows. Not sure how he feels about it! ;)

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  15. I have seen those hummingbird moths flying about too, and did not know what they were! They are so bizarre looking (but in a fun way).

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    1. They are a bit bizarre. Like a cross between a bee and a hummingbird, a moth and a butterfly all in one!

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  16. I have seen these fascinating creatures in my own garden. Now I know I need to plant a honeysuckle for them!

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    1. I bet if you do, their numbers in your garden will increase tremendously!

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  17. Fantastic post. I think my motto this summer is 'be still, observe, and do no harm.'

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    1. That's a great motto! I think we would all do well doing that.

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  18. I am glad you saved that caterpillar but the tomato hornworm caterpillar also produces a hummingbird moth---the hawk or sphinx moth. A dilemma?

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    1. Thanks so much for telling me! I had no idea. And after looking it up, I now know which moth I saw a few years ago on my moonvine flowers! I haven't seen a tomato hornworm - yet. So, thankfully, I haven't had to make that decision. And yes, that is a dilemma because I love those moths, but want my tomatoes, too!

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  19. Wow, that's great that you looked it up, and boy what a beautiful moth!

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    1. It is a pretty moth, isn't it? And the golden areas glow in the sunlight. Such a nice visitor to have in the garden!

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  20. What a beautiful caterpillar. I had to stop a colleague from spraying some bugs on a plant in the garden centre. I pointed out that they were ladybird larvae - a friend, not foe. Well done on not squishing it - people can be a little hasty in reaching for the spray, I think. Dave

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    1. I think you're right - we are a bit hasty in removing bugs from our gardens, before we know exactly what part they play in the overall environment. I'm still learning, but more and more I'm realizing how the cycle of good bugs coming to get the bad bugs will usually play out if we just wait.

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  21. I saw this moth in my garden as well but now will be on the lookout for the caterpillar amongst the honeysuckle....yes we do love our insects don't we!

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    1. Yes, I guess the love for our plants just spills over to the little creatures in the garden, too!

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  22. How gorgeous. I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a problem.

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    1. Me, too! I wasn't looking forward to dealing with an infestation of hornworms!

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  23. Oh Holley! I'm so glad that you shared this post! I would have fed it to the chickens! I love watching the hummingbird moths on my butterfly bushes! I'm so glad to know the difference now, thanks to you! Blessings from Bama!

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    1. I hope your chickens don't mind missing this delicacy! :)

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