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BIG Caterpillar
I am always on the alert for turtles in the road and if conditions allow, I’ll stop and help the critter, usually a box turtle, cross safely. A few days ago as I drove up my mountain, along the twisty, steep, gravel road, I spotted something. Certainly not a turtle, but something I don’t recall…
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Northern Pearly Eye
Rather than open meadows, which butterflies often prefer, the Northern Pearly Eye, Enodia anthedon, choses to flutter about in the woods, whether shady or with sun filtering through. Fluttering by, feeling the need to rest, he’ll land upside-down to view his world. His caterpillar hosts are various species of grasses, grasses which are happy living on the…
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Silvery Checkerspots
About a week ago I noticed a favorite patch of Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus, being quickly gobbled up by gregarious, tiny caterpillars. I took pictures of the less than one half inch critters, and started pouring over my many books on butterflies, moths, and caterpillars. I always love a mystery – caterpillars eating beloved plants…
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New Place
My blog has moved from brendaclementsjones.com to brendaclem.com. If you’re reading this post on my blog, you should’ve been redirected to my new domain, brendaclem.com, automatically. Thanks bunches for reading my posts. I’m looking forward to doing many more as the summer heats the mountains.
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Eyed Click Beetle
A goal of my hike this morning was to find a cover shot for my Facebook timeline. I was collecting images of tree bark, lichen, and beautiful mosses, all possible candidates. At a mature sassafras tree, as I worked around some poison ivy vines, I came upon a surprise: two BIG eyes looking back at…
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Red-spotted Newt
I have an adult Red-spotted Newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, in my small pond. Doing research, and learning about this newt has been a fun journey. A type of salamander, they start out their life in a pond, marsh, stream or small lake, as an egg mass that resembles a big wad of cotton, attached to…
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A Good Day For Monarchs
Oh What a Day! I think it was just a perfect day! After finding a sincere pumpkin patch and locating a large, golden orange squash that would please even the Great Pumpkin, I returned to my cabin to find a Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, enjoying the many varieties of asters that I have in the yard. What a…
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Io Moth Caterpillar
No hike today, but still I was able to play with some critters! I found this guy on one of my many Redbuds. This is the caterpillar of an Io Moth (Automeris io). See those spines? They contain a poison that makes their sting as painful as running into Stinging Nettle, but it last longer.…