I have sad news to report on my caterpillar farm. I have lost all of them to an unseen garden predator. I started last week with 31 caterpillars and by Friday I was down to 16. This weekend, I built the compound you see in the picture. Unfortunately, it was not good enough to keep away the hungry predator(s); it raided the pen this morning and took all the remaining butterfly babies.
If I have to point fingers, I would point to the army of lizards that inhabit my garden. They are voracious bug-eating machines (eating good and bad bugs). I have no conclusive evidence that they were the culprits but I cannot fathom any other animal that could have gotten inside the protective pen I built. The only thing that gives me pause is that some of the caterpillars were almost as large as the lizards themselves and my knowledge of lizards tells me they tend to pick on small bugs for their food supply.
It would have been nice to see the full cycle of caterpillar to pupa to beautiful butterfly but Mother Nature had other ideas. Maybe next time since my wife wants to replant lots of parsley to attract more butterflies!
If I have to point fingers, I would point to the army of lizards that inhabit my garden. They are voracious bug-eating machines (eating good and bad bugs). I have no conclusive evidence that they were the culprits but I cannot fathom any other animal that could have gotten inside the protective pen I built. The only thing that gives me pause is that some of the caterpillars were almost as large as the lizards themselves and my knowledge of lizards tells me they tend to pick on small bugs for their food supply.
It would have been nice to see the full cycle of caterpillar to pupa to beautiful butterfly but Mother Nature had other ideas. Maybe next time since my wife wants to replant lots of parsley to attract more butterflies!
