Now, Cecelia and I were talking Gulf Frits and I found a caterpillar at MOSI today. Normally, we don't raise them in the lab because they get what I call "melting disease" and it's just nasty and kills them all. Plus, they're so abundant it's easier to just go net the adults and add them to the flight cage. But I took this one to the lab because we hardly have any caterpillars in the lab and I thought if it was just one caterpillar he should be safe.
So I'm looking at him and I notice he has those black stripes like the ones in Argentina. The caterpillar in Cecelia's picture looked nearly full-grown so it made me wonder if only the smaller caterpillars have that here and they turn solid orange when they get bigger? Do only some of them have the striping? Has it been so long since I've raised them that I stopped noticing? Whatever the reason, I'm going to make a point to notice them more this year and stop taking them for granted. They are the most common butterfly in this area and so I get used to them and just don't get as excited about them. I will try to be equally excited for all butterflies this year! I will fail, but I will try! In the meantime, here's some pictures of the caterpillar where I found him and then inside the lab.
