Strange Creatures

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

We have been watching a couple very strange creatures!  They are both in a pot of little lemon trees I have been growing. I know they are eating the trees but I have more trees, and the creatures are far more interesting.

First is this worm type thing. It spends most of its time with its back end anchored to a stem and its body sticking straight out.

Hanging out on the stem
It anchors itself with its back feet.
This is the head end, something I would never know if I hadn’t caught it eating a leaf.
It seems to like the new leaves best.
It moves like an inch worm.

The second creature is really unusual! At first I thought we had a cocoon or pupa hanging on the plant, but further observation told me it is much stranger than that.

When I first saw it I thought it was a cocoon.
When I saw it later it was no longer hanging from a leaf, but from a stem. It moved?!
Then, I found it eating a leaf, or rather the creature in the cocoon was poking out its head and munching on a leaf.
Things got more bizarre from there! Next, I found it cutting of pieces of stem and sticking them to its cocoon.
Here, it has cut off the piece of stem and is starting to maneuver it into place. It is able to stick its head out of the sides of the cocoon as well as the top.
It’s still working with the stem like it is spitting glue on to it. What beautiful and interesting markings.
The cocoon is covered with more and more pieces of stem. It almost has this one in place.
It got hung up on the side of the pot and really had to pull hard to get the cocoon moving, which gave me the best look at the creature yet.

After a few days of watching I think I have a better idea what it is doing. I think the entire cocoon is made of pieces of stems. It sticks them on, and then covers them with a fuzzy, furry coating which it smooths down. The pieces in these photos from 3-4 days ago are now barely visible, and it is working on smoothing the next round of pieces that it stuck to itself yesterday. Between periods of cocoon building, it eats leaves. But, if it is building its cocoon and wants stems, it just tosses the attached leaves on the ground.

If any of you have any idea what these are, let me know. I don’t even know what search terms to start with! The pot is only a few feet from my patio table where I hang out, so it will be interesting to watch and see what happens.

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About Kris Cunningham

We live in David, Chiriqui Provence, Republic of Panama! This blog is about some of our experiences in our new country.
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14 Responses to Strange Creatures

  1. Sunnymikkel says:
    December 8, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    Dododododo, you have now crossed over, there is no going back! ;>}}

    Like

  2. Rewired and Retired in Nicaragua says:
    December 8, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    Amazing macros, Kris. Who would have ever thought that insects could be so intriguing?

    Like

    • Kris Cunningham says:
      December 8, 2014 at 9:19 pm

      I know, and I’m always finding a new and different one! A Facebook friend identified the second one as a bagworm. I thought they spun webs and tents in trees but I did some research, and indeed there are bagworms that do this also.

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  3. dfishell says:
    December 8, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    There are some strange critters indeed in the tropics! I’ll have to send you a photo I took of, what I thought was, a dead leaf that turned out to be some species of praying mantis. Very odd and also cool 🙂

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    • Kris Cunningham says:
      December 8, 2014 at 9:21 pm

      Really! Yes, please do send the photo. There is no end to the interesting critters around here.
      BTW, have you all been doing OK down there with the earthquakes? It seems the epicenter was just off shore from you.

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  4. Hugo Ernst says:
    December 8, 2014 at 10:39 pm

    How many more weeks will it be, before you find out if they taste like chicken?

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  5. Pathway To Portugal says:
    December 8, 2014 at 11:21 pm

    Such interesting little visitors you have!

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  6. schuttzie says:
    December 9, 2014 at 8:31 am

    How very cool and interesting! Please keep posting of any other strange critters, I love this!

    Barbara

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  7. Rebecca Olson says:
    December 9, 2014 at 8:35 am

    That little cocoon creature is interesting to say the least! Bagworm, that’s a fitting name. I wonder if it’s job is ever complete? Ha, it’ll be neat to see what he does with his little life.

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