New Spikey by TwoPynts
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Description
"Point well taken." ~~~~~
Another shot that I wish I had gotten clearer, but I was pressed for time and believe it or not this little guy moved pretty fast too. Freshly hatched and ready to take on the world. I have posted gallery images of the adult version of this insect in the past. I had caught one in a jar for a brief period and after letting it go realized that it had laid 3 eggs inside. Here is one of hatchlings. This concludes the Spikey series, thanks for tuning in. ----- Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Scientific name: Empyreuma affinis Rothschild (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) The spotted oleander caterpillar is one of only three species of caterpillars that may be found feeding on oleander in Florida. This arctiid species is considerably less common and less destructive than the oleander caterpillar, Syntomeida epilais Walker. The spotted oleander caterpillar may be mistaken for the saltmarsh caterpillar, Estigmene acrea (Drury). However, the body of the saltmarsh caterpillar is densely covered with hairs whereas the spotted oleander caterpillar only has tufts of hairs on its body. It is important to be able to distinguish among these three species as the nonpestiferous spotted oleander caterpillar and saltmarsh caterpillar will not require control measures whereas the oleander caterpillar may. Distribution: The spotted oleander caterpillar is a recent immigrant to the United States, first recorded in Florida in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, in February 1978. It is a native of the Caribbean region and has been recorded from Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. Description: The eggs of the spotted oleander caterpillar are similar in appearance to those of the oleander caterpillar. They are pearly white, turning to yellow just before hatching, spherical, and about 1 mm in width. The larvae are light orange, hairy caterpillars. They have tubercles on the lateral and dorsal regions of each segment from which protrude tufts of stiff reddish-brown hairs. On the mesonotum, metanotum, and the eighth abdominal segment, there is a pair of longer stiff black hairs. Six rows of regularly spaced large silver-colored spots ringed with dark brown form discontinuous longitudinal bands along the entire length of the caterpillar's body. The adult moth has a wingspan of 43 to 48 mm. Life Cycle: Adults of the spotted oleander caterpillar are day-flying moths. A male locates a female moth from several meters distance by cuing in on her sexual pheromone. Close-range mate location is facilitated by ultrasonic acoustic signals that both sexes emit. Mating occurs just around sunrise. The mated female moth searches for a site to lay her eggs, usually the underside of an oleander leaf. She lays her eggs in a group, as does the oleander caterpillar, but her progeny feed singly rather than gregariously as does the oleander caterpillar. Larvae develop through six instars and total larval development averages 28 days, depending on the temperature. Sixth instar larvae leave the host plant and search for a suitable site for pupation. The spotted oleander caterpillar pupates alone. -----
Thanks again for your cowboy comments on my last upload,
Saddleback Spikey
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Olympus C8080wz & PhotoshopCS. (893)
Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2007.
Sponsored by: Kramer Kreations
Comments (27)
Richardphotos
more than I ever knew about critters!!very tiny caterpillar
shanpoo
Love that you were able to get your hands on a baby! Hope you didn't spiked. lol...Shannon ;}
jocko500
very small looking one. I try to shoot some too. They move fast and one before I knew it was on my hand lol. cool shot
goodoleboy
Tiny little dude scrambling its way around what it considers the entire world. C'mon, it's just one thin dime! Great POV and relative size photo, but, like you admitted, it could have been sharper. Oh well, pretty good for a quickie!
MrsLubner
wee thing. I would have swept it off the table with the back of hand thinking it was a bit of dirt. Nice catch.
babuci
Little guy, it is a big wide world out there...good luck. This is a tiniest shot in long time!
RobyHermida
Very Nice!!! Roby ;O)
jif3d
WOW a real mini-me critter, lucky that coin didn't squash him ! A kool way to finish your interest series. ~Cheers~ :o)
mamabobbijo
The field journal entries with this series have been most interesting and informative, Thanks BJ
sharky_
Wow....They are very tiny. Excellent. Aloha
itsumama
COO OOO OO OO OOL!! Such a tiny little guy!!! I feel your pain in regard to the fuzzy look. Who among is hasn't had a blur we wished better?? :o)b
odie
What an awesome perspective! Imagine walking in the shadow of a small coin!
nongo
Very cool series Kort!!! This guys on the move too eh?????? --> zoom-->
NekhbetSun
Nice one Kort :o)
Gor111
A fascinating size comparison! A slightly more sharpness would look wonderful as well! Well done!!!
prionbrain
Hahaha:)) Indeed a fascinating size:)) Most cute of the spikeys you've shown:))) I'd keep him as a pet and call him fluffy:))
alhak
he's just a little bloke! nice shot
erlandpil
Nice shot erland
mark.spooner
Lovely shot, great contrast in size there!
babuinodeoro
a big tip to a caterpillar . i think so
Ionel
Excellent!
Margana
Now thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's tiny! Wow, I probably wouldn't even have noticed him. I guess the eyes are going, lol. Thanx for sharing and this enjoyable albeit 'pointed' series, Kortalouie!-M :^)
SecondChoice
"in god we trust"? shouldn't we more in nature? :-) so You became a caterpillar specialist? it's very interesting. i didn't know that the variety seems to be similar to coral fishes. great pics!
virginiese
Beautiful macro
Janiss
Fabullous macro.... absoluty GORGEOUS!
vulcanccit
very awesome!!!
Celtic_Lass
That's a great bit of info there! How did it feel to be the proud dad to this little critter? :-D