© Loree Griffin Burns
It’s a boy!
No, wait, it’s a girl!
Ack! Truth is, I don’t know which it is. But our mystery viburnum eggs have hatched, and the teeny tiny caterpillars (less than half a centimeter!) look just as we’d hoped: greenish with a large, dark horn on the rear end. The horn is further evidence that these are, indeed, the caterpillar of a hummingbird moth. I don’t know exactly which species, but time will tell.
They hatched sometime overnight and seem to have eaten their egg cases. I put some newly clipped viburnum leaves into the tank and am hoping the little cats will move over to those fresher leaves on their own. Sadly, I will be away from my new babies for a few days … but my human kids have promised to take good care of them. More pics soon!
* For a better view of our little cat, click on the image above; it should enlarge. The ruler is in centimeters.