Found this beautifully patterned caterpillar on one of our butterfly bushes. It's a Milkweed Tussock Caterpillar and its striking coloring is to deter birds from eating it. Apparently the orange and black "sweater" it's wearing announces that not only does it not taste good, it's actually toxic due to its milkweed diet.
I've read that they're voracious eaters and sure enough, when I returned to the plant a few hours later, there were two full heads of flowers that had been eaten down to nubs.
Busted:
I love Tussock Moth cats..a good sacrifice of flowers..Beautiful pictures!
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