I was pruning one of my experimental plants, a Japanese plum tree today. I was just about to grab the leaf that needed to be removed when I noticed some prickly bits underneath. I turned the pot on its side to reveal one of the coolest caterpillars I have ever seen. He must have been very hungry, because most of the leaves had been eaten. I had just assumed that it was not doing well because it was a transplant.
That was not the case, this little guy made this plant his personal buffet. From what I can find on the Internet this is a stinging caterpillar, and it is called the saddleback caterpillar. The brown oval marking kind of looks like a saddle. It is very fun to find great bugs in the back yard.
