There's nothing like a large clump of juicy nettles when you're a hungry Peacock caterpillar! It's amazing to think that a black spiky creature like this will metamorphose into such a gloriously beautiful and colourful butterfly. This brood of caterpillars has hatched on a very large patch of nettles just inside our local woods. Most of the interesting "bug" photos I take have been taken here. Nettles are enormously important, especially to invertebrates. Each patch of nettles is a haven and larder for so many creatures vital as part of the food chain that maintains nature's balance. So it's because of this that naturalists plead with us to leave a few nettles in our gardens...and if we do we're contributing in a real and valuable way to conservation and the health of our planet.
I remember the year we raised and released 500 Peacocks. Never again, all those nettles and piles of frass...! But it was worth it to see the faces of those who watched them leave the breeding cage.
A lovely photo of one of nature's marvels, not at all ugly in my opinion.
j
@jesika2 i was estimating how many there were in the patch of nettles. There were 7 "broods" each of which seemed to have around 70-100 caterpillars. So I guess up to 700 in total. I dont know what sort of percentage of those stand a chance of making it to adult butterfly in the wild. I guess it's pretty low, but they've had a good start.
@julienne1 My understanding is 1-2% so given that they have natural problems, the "tidying" effect of grass & weed cutting doesn't help at all. So I raise a few every year of what ever I can find. Butterflies, moths, other insects.
j
A lovely photo of one of nature's marvels, not at all ugly in my opinion.
j
j