Howdy!

Today's blog came about as I was yakking with my Grandmother about whatever came to her aging mind, and she was trying to explain to me, some superstition about the woolly bear caterpillars.  Unfortunately, she's at the age where she forgets what exactly the phrase was, so I came up with a few possibilities:

Solid brown woolly bear= long winter

Solid brown woolly bear= short winter

Solid black wooly bear= long winter

Solid black woolly bear= short winter

Just seeing a typical, brown and black woolly bear= long winter? short winter?

All I knew for sure was that this phrase had something to do with the prediction of some type of winter after seeing some type of said caterpillar. Just to be clear, winter's supposed to happen after seeing a woolly worm.

Now, having studied all manner of buggies for the last three years of my life, I dismiss this as a pretty adorable comment on the part of my dear old Grandma.   I wondered, which person's observation determines how long the winter will be?  It could be that several people are looking at different species, so what's the merit to this phrase, if any?

Here's the critter she was likely talking about:

Woolly bear caterpillars/ Pyrrharctia isabella

Currently in the SE US, these guys are everywhere.   If you've noticed them, chances are, you've seen this color variation.  There are earlier phases of the caterpillar's life where they appear to be all brown. 

So I turned to the trusty website where I like to borrow my images from (www.bugguide.net) and found this information on these guys:

"Folk wisdom holds that the relative lengths of the bands of the caterpillar foretell the severity of the coming winter. Actually, the variability of the bands depends on many factors. As larvae mature, the reddish bands lengthen. Wetter weather lengthens the black bands. So while not a reliable measure, it makes some sense that onset of an early and thus longer winter will force younger and less red caterpillars into hibernation."

And that let me back off Grandma a little bit.  Because these guys, also known as tiger moths, have a huge number of species, there are a huge number of larval color patterns depending on the species. 

(These are all separate tiger moth species). 

Tiger moths can be very pretty.  Here are some nice ones:

Virgin Tiger Moth/ Grammia virgo                                        Clymene moth/ Haploa clymene

Tiger moths are typically visually stunning, but their wings are sooooo delicate, like semi-moist, finely woven tissue paper.  So when you spread the wings to properly display them, you've got to know what you're doing, or else you end up with a shredded lump of wing with moth-body dangling from it. 

And what beautiful creature does our woolly bear morph into?

None other than this blandest of bland tiger moths. 

Kind of makes me think of Springsteen's song, "Glory Days"...the caterpillar had its recognized, charismatic form in its youth, but was reduced to dullness in its adulthood.  Such is the case for several of us bipeds, unfortunately!

I was somehow reminded of a nursery rhyme we knew back in preschool, and found it online:

"Fuzzy wuzzy caterpillar in the garden creeps
He spins himself a blanket and soon falls fast asleep.
Fuzzy wuzzy caterpillar wakes up by and by
To find he has wings of beauty, changed to a butterfly.

Pretty little butterfly, what do you do all day?
I fly around the flowerpots, nothing' to do but play.
Nothing' to do but play, darling', nothing' to do but play.
So fly butterfly, fly butterfly, don't waste your time away."

Anyways, old Grandma got me to thinking about all the bug phrases that are out there.  I did a quick google search, and came up with hundreds of insect-derived parables and cute little sayings--in several cultures.  I'll stick to a handful of American ones here:

"The Bee's Knees"

"As Snug as a Bug in a Rug"

"It's easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar."

"Bug-eyed"

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."

--

Of course, there are a ton of sayings out there.  I'll probably devote some blogs to some of them in the future, but I think this is all I've got for tonight. 

Coming soon: Halloween costumes!  Hooray!!!! :D

Good night, Sleep tight, don't let the Hemipterans bite!

--Xandos