Don't judge them by their Poopie, Smelly, Poisonous Covers

Recently, while out in the back yard, Olivia & I noticed a couple of strange looking creatures on our Mexican Lime Tree. At first, we honestly thought it was some sort of discharge...maybe from a bird?! But, as we looked closer, we could see the "discharge" moving! There were four of these freakish little monsters crawling around on our tree! They looked like a cross between a large gelatinous clump of bird poop and a miniature alien creature. Olivia right away got her camera and started snapping away, all the while wondering what they were. I however, didn't care! I had just discovered why the leaves on our tree looked like they had been chewed on and I wanted payment for it! Olivia went back inside, I assumed because they were really disgusting, and I went to work. These little suckers aren't taking out my tree! So, I grabbed the water-hose and pressure blasted those bloated-sacks of protoplasm straight to heck! (the children, remember the children when you write, Jack).

I had almost completely eradicated these disgusting little foes, when Olivia returned to the yard. I was pretty proud of myself at that point. The Tree Saver, a hero, even. I was confused when Olivia's response was less than filled with pride and awe. She said, "What did you do?" I said, "I got rid of those things." Now agree, she proceeds to tell me that they might be the larvae of some really beautiful moth or butterfly and that she was trying to look it up to make sure. I tried to defend my heroic actions by explaining how these worms were eating our little lime tree! Worse, they were threatening the serenity and security of our property, our land, our FREEDOM! Olivia, muttered something (I can't repeat it here) and went back inside, shaking her head.

I spent the next twenty minutes fishing two (I couldn't find the others)soggy and fairly agitated little monsters out of the grass near our patio. I carefully replaced them onto the leaves of our precious little lime tree and stepped back, now shaking my head because I was being forced to join her in the destruction of all that was good and pure about our patio! Ahhh, all for the sake of a few pictures!

You can see for yourself why I would be reluctant to want these little turds covered in burnt hair anywhere near our yard.....

Turns out, these are in fact the larval form of the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly, one of the largest and most beautiful of all North American butterflies. I remembered seeing one fluttering around this same tree a few weeks earlier and wondering what it was doing since there were not any blooms on it at the time. Boy, nature never ceases to amaze me. These larvae are also known as "Orange Dogs" for their preferred host site being citrus trees of many kinds (Mexican Lime?). The adults are often seen flying through orange orchards. Just goes to show kids, you really can't always judge a book by it repulsive cover. As you can see, the larva have recovered from my assault and had gotten huge! If you got close, you could actually hear them crunching on the leaves.

you can see the head is out - and of course, it's eating my tree!

Just when I thought, man these things can't get any bigger...they're gone! I asked Olivia if she'd seem them recently and she said that she had just the evening before. We searched everywhere on the tree and they were gone. I guessed that either one of our idiot cats, the equally idiotic dog or a bird of some kind must've gotten them both. This would have been especially remarkable given the orange dog's varied defenses. First of all, they are really ugly but, we've established that. They are supposed to and do resemble bird droppings. Not the first item on the menu for most predators but, again our pets are another story entirely. The larvae also have an appendage called an osmetrium that they are able to unleash and wave about. This osmetrium secretes an extremely foul-smelling and mildly toxic odor that repels predators, as well. I haven't had the pleasure of actually sniffing these secretions (maybe next time) but, they are supposed to smell like rancid butter and be capable of clearing a room. If looking like bird crap and smelling like rotten butter don't make you want to take a bite, they are also suspected of being mildly poisonous, as well. That's right ladies, he's single! Anyway, all of this made it unlikely that anything other than one of our pets who seem to revel in eating one anothers excrement, vomiting and having explosive bowel movements as often as possible, would dine on these putrid little pals of ours. So, what gives? Olivia was heartbroken. Dreams of beautiful close-up pictures of these guys in their cocoons (actually butterflies have a chyrsalis) and them emerging as amazing butterflies, all dashed! Tragic and mysterious indeed.

Then, that very night, Olivia noticed some strange objects clinging to the back wall of our house. They looked like the empty shells of some bugs or, perhaps something that had been eaten by one of the spiders that hang out in that area. What were they...carapaces, carcasses? No! Chrysalises!!! The larvae were transforming. Somehow, they had crawled out of the tree, out of the pot, across the patio and up the wall to fix themselves in these positions. We wondered how long they would remain in this state. When would we need to be on hand to witness their emergence? Looks like spring as they normally overwinter in their chrysalis....

In their chrysalis'

So, now you know what the "pretty awesome thing happening in our back yard" is that Olivia referred to in her earlier post. Again, just amazing!