While I was out for my morning walk, I found a caterpillar on the sidewalk.
The vibrant yellow lines on its back caught my eye. In the sun they look almost like gold leaf.
The larva was quite still, probably because it was in the 40s this morning.
It was still alive and began to crawl once I’d warmed it in my hand.
It is an armyworm, possibly a yellow-stiped armyworm given the yellow. If it completes its life cycle, it turn into an owlet moth (Family Noctuidae).
Armyworms get their name from the fact that they can migrate in large groups (armies). This one was a lone soldier.
You find wildlife everywhere. I need to look closer when I walk at the park.
I have to take my glasses off these days to see small things.
We are farmers and Army worms cause a lot of damage! Now I see why with those jaws.