Keep Going: Persevere | Endure | Press On
Yesterday was another busy day which saw me driving in to the city - not something I like to do - to attend a meeting on rare diseases. It was an interesting meeting with a variety of presenters as well as personal narratives from people who have rare diseases, as well as the mother of children who have rare diseases. While each disease is, in itself, rare, there are somewhere between 7000-8000 rare diseases, which means there are an awful lot of people who have a rare disease.
Meanwhile I didn't really have anything in mind for the prompt of Keep Going so I wasn't sure what I was going to photograph. Coming back from feeding the chickens I was looking at our young mulberry tree and noticed this amazing caterpillar - which necessitated a trip to the office and then to the house for camera and macro lens. Regardless of the prompt I thought I'd do this photo as an "off topic" shot, although at a stretch you could say that it's going to keep going until it becomes a moth.
The photo below, believe it or not, is the caterpillars head, and what amazing eyelashes it has! I did watch them moving.
Yesterday was another busy day which saw me driving in to the city - not something I like to do - to attend a meeting on rare diseases. It was an interesting meeting with a variety of presenters as well as personal narratives from people who have rare diseases, as well as the mother of children who have rare diseases. While each disease is, in itself, rare, there are somewhere between 7000-8000 rare diseases, which means there are an awful lot of people who have a rare disease.
Meanwhile I didn't really have anything in mind for the prompt of Keep Going so I wasn't sure what I was going to photograph. Coming back from feeding the chickens I was looking at our young mulberry tree and noticed this amazing caterpillar - which necessitated a trip to the office and then to the house for camera and macro lens. Regardless of the prompt I thought I'd do this photo as an "off topic" shot, although at a stretch you could say that it's going to keep going until it becomes a moth.
The photo below, believe it or not, is the caterpillars head, and what amazing eyelashes it has! I did watch them moving.
I had no idea what on earth this little guy was so I searched google with the only words I could think of to describe it and they were 'toothbrush' and 'caterpillar'. Seems that my descriptors worked as I found a picture of it immediately!
Apparently this is a Lymantriid moth larva, also known as a Tussock Moth caterpillar, or a Toothbrush Moth caterpillar. The larvae of tussock moths are very hairy and can usually be recognised by the characteristic large tufts of of long erect hairs sticking up from part of the body and looking like a tooth brush. Isn't it an amazing looking creature, however apparently if you touch the bristles they can set off an allergic reaction in some people, and they are able to get through quite a large amount of leaves. I think I may need to remove this one from my garden.
Apparently this is a Lymantriid moth larva, also known as a Tussock Moth caterpillar, or a Toothbrush Moth caterpillar. The larvae of tussock moths are very hairy and can usually be recognised by the characteristic large tufts of of long erect hairs sticking up from part of the body and looking like a tooth brush. Isn't it an amazing looking creature, however apparently if you touch the bristles they can set off an allergic reaction in some people, and they are able to get through quite a large amount of leaves. I think I may need to remove this one from my garden.