One of the plants I had a little trouble with was my mint. My mint patch on the outside of the house seems to be the only thing that grows, it is taking over my lawn. But in a pot, I didn't think it was going to catch.... until Saturday. On Saturday I noticed that the wilted leaves had new life, a few extra buds, and an overall look of health. So I watered it, thanked it for doing a good job, and placed it beside the other herbs. Here is one of the batches of recently rejuvenated leaves:
Sunday morning, I wake up and wander into the kitchen to pour myself a bowl of delicious Chex. I happen to glance over at the herb patch and... CATASTROPHE!
WTF!?!?!? Look at my poor plant! The leaves, that just ten hours ago were sprightly and green, are now just nubbins! It's scraggly and all crumbly looking. What the hell happened?
Well, I did a little investigation, and after 3 or 4 minutes of close inspection, I found the culprit:
This little guy, his name is Brian, ate the shit out of my plant. I was very mad at Brian, Brian almost became mush. However, my better sensibilities took over and I figured I already know what he eats, I may be able to keep him and watch him metamorphose into whatever. (Butterfly? Moth?)
So, Brian has a new home in my son's bug terrarium. I put a few sprigs of mint in there from the outside garden, lo and behold he began munching more mint. Hungry little thing. So, On Monday morning I check on him, and I see this:
See the little wisps of filament? He's making a cocoon! And this morning, He's got much more of his house built:
So, watch for an upcoming post of the finished product, and hopefully some time down the road, hopefully you'll get to see Brian the Caterpillar morph into Brian the Butterfly!
- Yuk
