Owlet Caterpillar

Inspecting the flowers in the front yard, I noticed a caterpillar at the center of one of the Brown-eyed Susan flowers. A dark and drab and overall rather nondescript caterpillar. The number of prolegs and their positions suggested it may be an owlet caterpillar, family Noctuidae. This prompted a look through the large and lavish guide book Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America by David Wagner and others (Princeton University Press, 2012), though without finding any species that looked remotely like this caterpillar.

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Yesterday evening, a young man came to the door asking us to support Clean Water Action. I gave him some money to aid their fight against legislation afoot that aims to undermine current environmental protections and restrictions. Money to fight money. While there's no question as to where my loyalties fall, I often resent that money should be the measure of commitment to a cause. Having cared and worried and fretted about such issues for my entire adult life, I still hope the little I have left...words, a worn-out heart, a well-seasoned anger...helps.

Posted on August 24, 2017 03:51 AM by scottking