Chopsticks of Doom

Two and a half years ago, when we moved from our apartment to the house we are in now, Dustin bought me a young Japanese maple tree. We planted it in front of our house and I have been a bit doting and over protective ever since.

Our brave/crazy friend Danielle who biked home with our maple as well as two other
bushes in her bike baskets.

In the late spring and early summer of this year, I noticed a dozen or so small, green limpet like things munching away on my maple leaves.  I pulled them off and disposed of them before they could do much damage. I didn't find them on any other plants in my garden though. 

About a week and a half ago, since the weather has cooled down a bit, I noticed they were back on my maple and this time I didn't really bother about pulling them off right away. Partially it was laziness and partially it was not really caring if the leaves get chewed up a bit since the tree will be shedding its leaves soon anyway. During that time they grew much larger and more caterpillar like. 

I finally decided to do something about them when Dustin brushed past the tree and instantly had a bad skin reaction. He said it was an itchy, painful burning sensation like fiberglass rubbed into your skin. The spot where he had touched the caterpillar stayed red and puffy for a few hours. 

The tree was pretty infested with these wee beasties and quite a few were at Rosie's hight, so I decided they needed to go. 

They always hang out on the underside of the leaves. Unfortunately for them, their
neon green colour doesn't blend in too well and they are easy to spot.

When William got home from kindergarten today, we decided to tag team this problem. I wielded the chopsticks of doom while William put them down for a dirt nap.

Always happy to oblige

In the wake of their destruction

Before you think I am a completely cruel and heartless killer, I did do a little research on this species before I obliterated them from my garden. The species is Parasa lepida, or the Nettle Caterpillar, and they are a nuisance invasive species in Japan. I may have felt a small twinge of guilt wiping out a native species, but the ecologist in me feels absolutely no remorse about assisting in removing a poisonous, exotic pest.

I am curious if they will show up again next spring but if they do, William and I will be ready for them!

Living and Growing

After our hot and unusually long summer, the weather has suddenly turned cooler. On my daily walks around the neighbourhood, I have begun to notice that it isn't just me enjoying the weather but all the plants and creepy crawlies too.

Our little street has a sort of rusty, run down beauty in early fall. The train tracks become lined with a healthy tangle of blooming cosmos and red spider lilies and the green mountains rise up in the distance. After a year and a half in our little house, it is really starting to feel like home.

The view down our street

Higanbana, or red spider lily

I have been coming across a lot of hornworm and hawk moth caterpillars (from the Sphingidae family of moths). It is almost impossible to miss seeing them since they are about 7 cm long, as thick as your finger, and have a little wagging "tail" at their end.

An Impatiens Hawk Moth (Theretra oldenlandiae) caterpillar making its way across the street

This caterpillar was a little smaller and also from the Sphingidae family (I have no idea
what genus and species though!)

A tobacco hornworm caterpillar making short work of a morning glory leaf on our bike shelter

And we have also seen the adult stage of these hawk moth caterpillars frequenting our four o' clocks and morning glories each evening. Dustin and I never grow tired of seeing huge hummingbird moths flitting in and out of the flower bed. 

There has also been a boom in the spider population as of late. Dustin managed to get a picture of this stripey and colourful individual last weekend.

Last year Dustin was pretty disappointed by the vines I chose to plant near our fence and bike shelter. He was envisioning a lush green blanket enveloping everything in sight but the flowering vines I planted barely covered half the fence before frost killed them off in December. This year I promised Dustin that I would make his dream come true and so I planted morning glories. I didn't really even plant that many of them, maybe six or seven plants around the yard, but they have really taken off. Every weekend I have to spend a few minutes cutting them back or else they would have long since eaten the road in front of our house, been all the way up the electric line and across the street, and completely covered the entrance to our bike shelter. 

Now that the weather has cooled, the morning glories have started to bloom. I love it! 

William posing outside our fence on a bright, sunny morning (yes, there is a fence under all those vines)

We also trained morning glories up a net in front of our window

From inside, it fills the room with green, dappled sunlight.

and the side of our bike shelter

Maybe I did go a bit nuts planting vines this year but there has not been one complaint from Dustin!