239/365: "Gluttony is not a secret vice." ~ Orson Welles

10...yes, TEN more pictures in notes above! ENJOY THE SHOW!! :D

I can't believe how much fun I've been having raising caterpillars from eggs! To bring you up to date, I brought a small twig into the house on July 25, which had some eggs on it. I discovered that they were from Clio Tiger Moths after finding one laying eggs exactly like the ones I had. Although the stick was literally only a tiny fraction of the number I found, I was amazed when the eggs hatched and there were so many itty bitty caterpillars crawling around! They were so small I could just barely see them! I got them some milkweed leaves to eat, and every day since I've been bringing them fresh leaves and keeping their habitat clean and increasing the size of their container as they've grown. (You can read the original story of the caterpillars here: Piggy 'Pillar!!)

Now, I have read that caterpillars grow fast, but I've never raised them before now, and I have to tell you: it's absolutely AMAZING how fast they grow!!! In one month's time, they have grown from about 1/16" in size to about 1.5" for the largest ones!! It's just incredible to me! In order to get that huge so quickly, all they do during the night is eat, and they sleep all day like a bunch of gluttenous oinkers! :D

Today I wanted to show one of the big ones next to a quarter so you can see how huge they've become! At last count, I have about 50 of them, which is surprising because only about 5 of them have died. As I'm sure you probably know, the reason so many eggs are layed is because the survival rate is extremely low, so with the huge number of offspring, at least a few may make it to adulthood. We'll see how many live until pupal stage, but I will bet it will be at least 40. The largest are getting close to pupal stage, and I just can't wait to watch that show!! STAY TUNED!!!

I added a bit of texture to the background from Jerry Jones, using his Fire Damage 10-21-09 TOTD # 87 image for the edging! THANKS JERRY!! :)

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. Wikipedia: Orson Welles

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