04 June 2006
It's the apocalypse
Our big elm...
has been infested with these:
They are the larvae of the Nymphalis antiopa or Mourning Cloak butterfly. There are probably 50 of them in this bucket, all collected within a half-hour period. (No caterpillars were harmed--the neighbor kid released them down by the creek.) I think this is a bad omen for our tree. This spring I have had a gut feeling that this would be the year our tree gets painted with the Ring of Death. The tree is probably 70 years old and survived the Dutch Elm infestation of the 1970's, a direct lightning strike four years ago, and so far the current Dutch Elm infestation. But something tells me that it's number is up. We can only hope I'm wrong.
has been infested with these:
They are the larvae of the Nymphalis antiopa or Mourning Cloak butterfly. There are probably 50 of them in this bucket, all collected within a half-hour period. (No caterpillars were harmed--the neighbor kid released them down by the creek.) I think this is a bad omen for our tree. This spring I have had a gut feeling that this would be the year our tree gets painted with the Ring of Death. The tree is probably 70 years old and survived the Dutch Elm infestation of the 1970's, a direct lightning strike four years ago, and so far the current Dutch Elm infestation. But something tells me that it's number is up. We can only hope I'm wrong.
