American lady – Welcome to a photographic journey through the woods, fields and marshes of New England
Find more of my photographs and information similar to that which I post in this blog in my book Naturally Curious, which is being published this fall.
AMERICAN LADY CATERPILLAR
American lady butterflies are far more beautiful than their prickly larval stage would lead you to believe. Look for these caterpillars on plants in the Aster family, especially pussytoes and pearly everlasting, both of which are favorite foods. Often I have found the white flowers chewed into tiny bits and glued together with silk to form a shelter within which the caterpillar feeds. The photograph shows such a shelter dissected in order to reveal a resident American lady caterpillar as well as a recently-shed skin beneath it. Soon this caterpillar will form a chrysalis, pupate and emerge as an adult butterfly which will soon migrate south for the winter.
Naturally Curious with Mary Holland 
What Other Naturally Curious People Are Saying