Sibene stimulea...Amanda was stung by a Saddleback Caterpillar today

Hey, but she womaned up and brought it in so we could look at it! It's a striking caterpillar. And it hurts if you touch it. It's a not particularly common caterpillar, actually a "slug caterpillar" but a regularly encountered resident of most of eastern North America. The spines penetrate skin and produce sharp pain.

Brad noted that they seem to enjoy Cordylines and one year planting a lot of Cordylines had produced a large number of Saddlebacks. The literature suggests that they like palms which also have relatively thick and unappealing leaves, to eat that is. Like many a spectacular caterpillar, they metamorphose into a fairly nondescript moth.

It looked ominous this afternoon, but we ended up with a little lightinig and about a minute and a half of rain...

Oh well, maybe we can squeeze a little rain out of the conjunction of Hurricane Bill and this huge high pressure cool front we've been waiting for all week. Pat says it's because Washington is the gateway to Hell and all precipitation just vaporizes before it can hit ground. I'm sure he means it in a non-political way. I don't believe it anyway though THIS WEEK we have had two huge areas of rain move directly through us and reassemble themselves to the east without hitting us at all??? I don't know. I do know that this summer has been more traditional weatherwise in that we have had thunderstorms here and there so that there was no extended period without rain. I can't really complain.

Plus, when I got home I found almost .4" in the rain gauge...we're a bit north of the gateway to Hell.