A New Caterpillar!

Today I bothered to go have a look at our Catalpa tree - which gets defoliated by "something" every year. Lo and behold there is a caterpillar - the caterpillar of the Catalpa Sphinx Moth - that eats... surprise!... Catalpa tree leaves. The only reason I looked was that I found a smaller version of this caterpillar at something of a remove from the tree and wondered what it was. After flipping through my caterpillar book I found it, and having learned its name I went to look at the actual tree. Well my goodness! Nearly every leaf has once again been eaten, and it's pretty much covered with these dudes. I think this one might be getting ready to make its cocoon and turn into a new moth.

What's silly about this is that it's been happening for years and I've never bothered to look before. Tsk.