Caterpillars هزارپا ها

Nest time you spot a caterpillar eating your plants you might not want to be so quick to kill it.  The "critter" you kill might be the early stage of a butterfly.

The caterpillar on top is in its normal stage but the one one the bottom is about to become a chrysalis which is the stage before it becomes a butterfly.

This guy is eating a leaf that also has small eggs deposited on it.  Our photographer, Mr. Mike Ash, has witnessed them only eating the leaves and leaving the eggs alone unless there is no food left.  He says that if all the leaves are gone then the caterpillars will eat anything from the eggs to even eating young hatchlings.

This guy is leaving one plant that has been devoured to move on to another healthy plant.

This is a close-up of one that has just shed its skin so that it can continue to grow.  The orange will turn to black after a short while.

This is a close up of a Gulf Fritillary.

Here is a picture of a caterpillar as it ties itself to a branch so that it can shed its skin to become a chrysalis.

This is a picture of a baby caterpillar just after it has hatched from its egg.  This egg was orange until the little guy came out.  The egg is now clear showing that it got its color from what was inside it.

This is a picture of a caterpillar as it literally comes out of its skin.

A beautiful Monarch as a caterpillar.

A Zebra as a caterpillar.