This past spring I read a post on Homestead Acres where her kids enjoyed catching caterpillars and keeping them. She said they really enjoyed watching the process of them going into the cocoons and later coming out a butterfly or moth.
So today, I tell you the story of Wormy and Tater.
Wormy was a sweet little caterpillar than was hanging out by our door at our store. We don't know how he got there since apparently none of his "host plants" are no where to be found around the store. So we decided to take him home. He is a Black Swallowtail caterpillar and the things he likes to eat is dill, carrot, fennel and other herbs. So, we put him in our carrot patch in the backyard. There he stayed until one day I noticed that he was no longer Wormy, but a woody looking cocoon. He is now waiting for spring in our sitting room.
We were shocked and surprised that Wormy completed his cocoon so soon, so we decided to bring in one of the Tomato Horn Worms. We named him Tater. We had him happily set up with green tomatoes in a fish bowl for about a week. Until this happened.
See those tiny white things sticking off the back of this horn worm? (That's not Tater by the way) Those white things are wasp larvae. The wasps basically inject eggs into the worm and the larvae eggs grow and grow until they basically eat the worm from the inside out. This is actually a good thing for gardeners because these little buggers can devastate your garden! However, our Tater didn't have these eggs on him and he was easily as big as the one pictured here. So we thought we were in the clear. But one day, he stopped pooping. Which in the worm world is bad news. They can produce enough frass that you need to clean the fishbowl daily! Then the next day, he had tiny white eggs appearing on his body. So I took his little self out to the garden and said goodbye.
There you have it. The story of Tater and Wormy. Wormy we'll see in the spring. Tater Tot, we'll catch him next year in the tomato bed!
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