Inchworms!

Today's post is about inchworms. I'm a little late posting this but I've been waiting and watching for the cicadas who are much nosier than inchworms. And since the cicadas haven't shown up at my house yet I thought I'd write about inchworms. Seems like we've had an unusually large crop of inchworms this year. A couple of weeks ago I'd find them indoors after I went for a walk, crawling up my legs or on my neck. A little creepy. This picture is not very clear- I'll try to get a better one.

Inchworms are the larva of the geometer moth. They are named because of the way they travel that suggests measuring inch by inch. They draw the hind quarters forward while holding on with their front legs. They can stand erect if disturbed. I see them as they drop down on a single thread from a tree or someplace above where I stand. The destructive ones are also called cankerworms.

The maple tree down by the pond has had a visit from the inchworms or maybe the cankerworms. It had put out leaves but then the leaves were completely stripped off. The leaves are starting to come back now so I guess it survived the attack of the inchworms.

My car sits under a maple tree and besides the drop of first the blossoms and then the seeds onto the car it also got the droppings of the inchworms that were eating the leaves of the tree and the droppings of the birds that were eating the inchworms. Seems like the goldfinches in particular loved to eat those little inchworms.

These things have unfolded in the past month and I think it's pretty much calmed down now. But it was very lively in the treetops for awhile.

Maybe you'll like this song: Inchworm song.