@crittergarden,
@luvsgrtdanes:
Thanks for the info on BugGuide.net.
I just registered and sent them a photo of a purple (!) caterpillar I noticed on my lavender plant that I purchased about a month ago from a local nursery.
It's about 1 1/4 inch long and seems to ignore the leaves and instead prefers the blooms.
The plant remains outside, so the relatively cool temps (low 60s now) don't seem to bother it.
I hope they'll be able to identify it, since I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland when I first spotted it.
P.S. - For most of my life I've been partial to various shades of purple, but now I'm really drawn to yellowish-oranges.
