BRN 9-2 (uncompressed) - Flipbook - Page 38
Success, snatched from the jaws of failure. What about that
failure thread, at one time the purpose of this article?
Failure and success are segments of the same continuum.
Sometimes success is predicated on the failures which came
before.
checking every Littleleaf Sumac I encountered, making for
slow going, especially inspecting those with areas with bare
branches where something (perhaps this species) had its Þll.
At the Òinitial bushÓ I found the caterpillars shown below
and on the two following pages. These individuals are later
instars of the small caterpillars shown previously in this
article. This caterpillar stage is larger (roughly one inch in
length) and has slightly different coloration. While setting
up the camera I hit the bush, causing the caterpillars to go
into the typical Datana defense posture, which I have come
to know and love, shown in these photos.
This bit of observation took me down a few paths which I
had not anticipated. Some were dead ends when
considered as part of this effort, but led to insights which I
would otherwise have not encountered. And when all is
said, boring or interesting, a good dose of humility never
hurt anyone.
For those of you who wonder where this all ends up:
Andrew Meeds made the iNaturalist observation shown
below on 05 July 2019 east of Cliff in Grant County. The
adult phase is not that small, having a wingspan of about 50
mm (about 2 inches). Shown here under a Creative
Commons license.
In Volume 6, Number 2, of this journal we described our
observations of a different species, Datana neomexicana,
which we observed near Kingston. In that issue we also
discussed a bit of caterpillar anatomy, some background for
this observation (see also this site). As in D. neomexicana
most of the prolegs (the Òsuction cup legsÓ) are red.
In the above detail, spiracles are shown within the large dark
band which begins at the bottom center and arcs to the
center left. These round openings are the ÒbreathingÓ pores
of the caterpillar and extend all along the abdomen. In this
individual they were all within the black band shown here.
The rear of the caterpillar is shown at the top of the next
page. This detail also shows the setae (hairs) which provide
a sense of touch.
Addendum
On 21 August 2025 I returned to the bush where I had
initially photographed the egg mass. I had visited this bush
on 06 August and had found small caterpillars like those
shown in previous photographs. I walked up the wash
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