Evil Erruption

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted July 15, 2010306 views7 comments

Found this nest of unwanted campers (Tent Catapillars) that was just seething and ready to errupt today.
It was pretty disgusting. If left unchecked these monsters will eat almost anything green. Wasps were landing on the nest but couldn't get in to eat the scourge. But every time one landed all the catapillars would freak out and start twitching. I guess even these critters can have nightmares too...
Shot with sony A350 and sigma 105 macro

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on July 19, 2010 at 12:51 AM

seething mass alright! in africa, we have things we call army worms which are, i guess, akin to these in their effect.

Registered on December 7, 2007, 247 Posts, 4792 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 21, 2010 at 12:35 AM

ick. I remember these things invading the trees back in ohio when I was growing up.
Congrats on the EP.

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Debashis Bandyopad on July 21, 2010 at 5:31 AM

Gary, you have a terrific image here and your narration goes well with it.. Many congrats on the EP

Registered on June 24, 2007, 130 Posts, 1309 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on July 21, 2010 at 7:46 AM

Creepy. I think my dad used to burn huge balls of these in our yard after they ate one entire (fully glown 30ft) elm tree. That story may not have been PC.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Steven M Kahn on July 25, 2010 at 10:54 AM

Rather nice capture of a creepy subject, not so much in terms of their looks as much in their massing and unleashing. Congrats on the EP for a "moving" presentation.

Registered on July 20, 2009, 140 Posts, 1198 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on July 25, 2010 at 7:01 PM

Gary,
Sorry I was not around to see this earlier. It is indeed a good shot of the critter, but unfortunately, it's not the critter you thought it was. You photographed a nest of fall webworms, not tent caterpillars. Eastern tent caterpillars are very dark colored, and marked with a distinctive light stripe down the center of the back. Their nests, built in the central crotches of branches, look a lot more like tents than the more bag-like nests of the fall webworms, which make their nest on the end of branches.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Reed on July 26, 2010 at 1:30 PM

Thanks for the correction Wayne.
I'll have to be more careful in the future...

Registered on September 19, 2009, 198 Posts, 1074 Comments