I’ve been redesigning my reflexology stone path recently, and have spent a lot of time sitting near the catalpa tree in my special place.
During all this, I noticed ants on two exposed roots, and going up and down the tree.
Why? What’s up there for the ants?
I started to remove the seeds from a pod so I could remove the papery covering down to the actual seed. A silky web covered what I thought at first was an egg mass.
Cropping showed they were larval cocoons. They’re like eggs only much larger.
I have a new book: Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney.
The larval cocoons were gone the next morning. I wasn’t sure, but it looked like a predator found them.
The small form on the left looked like a larva.
At least I solved the mystery of why the ants hurried up and down the catalpa tree.
Posted by New Hampshire Garden Solutions on September 7, 2014 at 6:59 pm
Do you think the ants were eating them?
Posted by naturesnippets on September 7, 2014 at 7:01 pm
I think they were ant larvae and something got them.