Small Treasures�

2002-07-15

I found a treasure today!! It's a very small, very temporary treasure, but it's most definitely a treasure to me. I found a caterpillar on the underside of my umbrella today. I've seen three butterflys so far this year. Two cabage butterflies and gulf fritillary. Saw the fritillary for about forty five seconds the day before I went on vacation. Have seen no cabbage worms and only one other small, chewed and desiccated caterpillar corpse.

I should probably be glad. It means that my plants will survive another year. And in truth, the passion flower vine is thriving this year. It also probably means my garden is closer to balance than it's been before. The carnivores (wasps, etc.) are keeping the numbers of the herbivores (the caterpillars) in balance.

Still, I miss the upward rain of butterflys I had two years ago and this one small (very small) caterpillar is enough to cheer me.

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