Greensboro Birds

What better way to start the day than finding a yellow and orange caterpillar replete with a quartet of pompoms running down its back? It’s like a fuzzy little party in the garden. This is the caterpillar of the relatively drab white-marked tussock moth. Those pompoms, technically called middorsal tufts, can range from white to the bright yellow this one sports. Its hairs can actually cause an allergic reaction in some people. I found this one cruising the knockout roses, where I was picking off Japanese beetles—a favorite treat for the chickens, I’m pleased to discover.

I have to confess that the chickens also enjoyed this caterpillar.