Caterpiller Mummy

[best appreciated at full size against black]

The other day I was making my way back to our house from our ridgeline where I was taking pictures and as I walked, I took a close look at some of the trees to see if I could find something tiny and interesting to photograph. I noticed a small, fuzzy thing that looked like a bit of fluff stuck to a manzanita tree trunk, and immediately got my nose up to it for a good look. A CATERPILLER!! Wait. Aww, it was dead, unfortunately, but I thought to myself, "Hey, you know what? This little guy looks really cool, even if he is dead!" :D

I believe this caterpiller is a webworm larva because of the masses of webbing all around it. If you would like to know more about webworms, take a look at this frost picture I took; there is a link to informative web pages for even more info! www.flickr.com/photos/sfhipchick/6798999635/

This image was taken in February, 2012.