Leaf Vultures
This Caladium bicolor is a very old variety common in our area. It has been in our grounds maybe even before I was born. Not many people wants it because of its ordinariness. But I am the exception, no matter how common, no matter how it looks, I still appreciate it. And once-in-a while there are unusual scenes we see involving them. The following photos are the variations or examples we see. Some artistic caterpillars left their creations on the leaves! They probably don't have the artistic plans, but their instincts made lovely patterns.
They are also very good thieves, they ran out so fast before the owners spot them. Thorough search on the area around the plants did not produce the culprits. I can't even predict what they look like.
Next time I will install a CCTV camera to give them the proper plaque of appreciation!
I am joining the Alphabe-Thursday for the first time!
I hope the word Vultures will be fine here!
Nice post and beautiful pictures. Stopping by from Alphabe-Thursday
ReplyDeleteVultures!! That is a great way to describe insect nibblers. Sometimes, it looks like they came in en masse and have an all you can eat banquet on our beautiful plants and flowers.
ReplyDeleteExcellent V post.
Thanks VBR, they really have an 'eat all you can banquet' of my caladiums, haha! Thanks for dropping by.
DeleteThe caterpillars were thoughtful to leave you some interesting art!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes Sarah, they know i will appreciate it, they don't know i am sarcastic! haha.
DeleteI love the images!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post!
ReplyDelete=)
hopefully the leaves will come back, once the caterpillars leave (or is that leaf?) {:-Deb
ReplyDeleteThanks storybeader for dropping by. Some leaves will come back but will still depend if it still rains before the dry season starts. That word is another difficulty of the English language, why will leave have different meaning than than leaf or leaves! English word discrepancies are big source of jokes for non-speaking countries like us. Example. Why will someone be called a botanist instead of botaner, or photographer instead of photographist, etc, etc. haha!
DeleteI think your pictures are very creative !
ReplyDeleteThanks Gattina, the caterpillars are creative!
DeleteWho eats Caladiums??!!!! Who would do that? It seems very wrong:) Several caterpillars are eating my kumquat trees right now. Now too happy about that....but they do make beautiful swallowtails!:)
ReplyDeleteMaybe the culprits here are the mooths, not so lovely moths. I wonder where they went after being too fat and heavy. I haven't seen a komquat tree, but our swallowtails eat citrus species. Maybe komquat is in the citrus family too! Happy Weekend friend.
Deletethey really did a good job in that plant. i remember my mother would be mad if she sees this happening to her plants.
ReplyDeleteHi Photo Cache, i get mad also in the past if they eat my plants. I even accidentally killed a rooster for destroying my newly planted rose. As we grow older our perspectives change. I realized many emotional responses to things are just matters of perspectives! So Now i appreciate the damage done by the larvae as "insect art"! What do you say?
DeleteHi Andrea, Love Caladiums... So many pretty colors!!!! I tried to plant some here one year --but they don't do well in our cooler climate up here... SO--I decided to stick to hosta which I like --but aren't near as pretty as Caladium.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
Hi Betsy, humans i think are really prone to want something difficult for them to get. In my case, I love hostas because we can't grow them here. In yours, you think caladiums are prettier than hostas! hahaha, i think just like what i told Photo Cache above, i must change my perspective here in this aspect.
DeleteThey seem to be tasty, too!
ReplyDeleteWhere I live we pay good money for pretty caladiums like these! How funny. common where you live; must buy at a nursery where I live.
Thanks for the visit. It is really funny how someone's waste is another's treasure, and tha is very common in the world we are in, just like the food chain!
DeleteThese look like my lettuces and kale...caterpillars are my culprit.
ReplyDeleteWow. These are very gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI love how nature creates masterpieces when you least expect them.
Thanks for linking. I love your unique look at the letter "V".
A+