Luna Moth Caterpillar inches its way down our American Hornbeam
Perfect timing one morning last week brought me face to face 😊 with a Luna Moth caterpillar as it inched its way down our American Hornbeam, one of the native trees we planted in 2021. What looks like its’ face is actually the back end. It must have evolved to appear vaguely menacing to predators, but to me it just looks like a sleepy-eyed character in a children’s book!
We had a good number of these beautiful, other worldly moths last month, and I guess some laid eggs on the American Hornbeam.
I had noticed that something seemed to be eating the leaves at the top of the hornbeam, but I couldn’t find anything. Now I have a primary “creature of interest” – case closed!
American Hornbeam, also known as Ironwood or Musclewood, is a great native plant choice for a garden in need of a slow growing tree on the smaller side. It’s 20-30′ both tall and wide at maturity. And if you’re looking for a resource for what to plant for your size garden and conditions, check out Essential Native Trees and Shrubs for the Eastern United States by Tony Dove and Ginger Woolridge. Here is a helpful description by the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia.
This is the whole caterpillar with its head leading the way down the tree. I watched it make its way through the garden and lost it under a thick New England Aster. It looks like you can see into the body. One of the pure joys of the native garden is seeing one of most beautiful native insects going through the many stages of its life cycle!
