Rose flowers ! .. . ........ and Caterpillar attack !!!

This morning not a great sight !! They are unwelcome guests !  and to the plants they are enemies !! 

Caterpillar stock (NYSE: CAT) is up a solid 19% in a month, significantly outperforming the broader S&P500 index, up just 2%. The rise in CAT stock can be attributed to its upbeat Q3 results. Its top and bottom line were well above our estimates, driven by both sales growth and better price realization. Caterpillar’s revenue of $15.0 billion reflected a 21% y-o-y growth, driven by a 30% jump in resource industries revenue, a 22% rise in energy & transportation, and 19% growth for the construction industries segment. The company’s operating margin also improved by 280 bps to 16.5%.  Not any post on financials as here  .. .. but harmful insects ! 

இதோ இங்கே வள்ளுவன் வாய்மொழி !! 

தன்துணை இன்றால் பகையிரண்டால் தான்ஒருவன்

இன்துணையாக் கொள்கவற்றின் ஒன்று.

தனக்கு உதவியான துணையே இல்லை, பகையே இரண்டு, தானே ஒருவன் இந் நிலையில் அப்பகைகளில் ஒன்றையே    இனியத் துணையாகக் கொள்ள வேண்டும்.   ஆங்கிலத்தில்  பிசாசுக்கு பெருங்கடலுக்கும் [between devil and deep sea]  இடையே என்று சொல்லுவார்கள்.  இங்கே இரண்டுமே ஒரே வகை !!  என் செய்ய ??   

The remarkably hardy insect completely freezes in winter before thawing and spinning a cocoon under the leaf litter in the spring  and will later emerge as a   Moth. "According to folklore, the amount of black on the woolly bear in autumn varies proportionately with the severity of the coming winter in the locality where the caterpillar is found," The National Weather Service explains.   

Caterpillars are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symphyta) are commonly called caterpillars as well. Caterpillars of most species eat plant material (often leaves), but not all; some (about 1%) eat insects, and some are even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products. For example, clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates. 

Last year, forests across southern Québec and Ontario and much of New England turned eerily leafless. The air hummed with the sound of munching mandibles and tree trunks were covered with a writhing carpet of caterpillars, while showers of caterpillar poop fell softly on the heads of unsuspecting hikers and campers. The population of the European spongy moth, which had been gradually increasing since 2019, reached a dramatic peak in 2021 and completely vanished this year.  In 2020, the hungry caterpillar damaged 583,157 hectares of forests in Ontario and this number is bound to go up when the 2021 numbers are revealed. 

Insect outbreaks are one of the most important natural disturbances in Canadian forests. For  biologists    the frequency, intensity and range of insect outbreaks keeps changing. To protect trees in our forests and cities, we need tree diversity.  However, insect outbreaks are not a new phenomenon. Historical records document locust outbreaks for almost 2,000 years, while paleo-ecological studies show that Québec’s boreal forests have witnessed spruce budworm outbreaks for at least 8,000 years. Female insects can produce hundreds of offspring and for the population to remain stable, only two of these need to survive. A small increase in survival, due to factors like favorable weather conditions, can lead to a population explosion and an outbreak.

 

Forget all the foregoing, my little plant giving couple of roses a week – is now swarmed by caterpillars, making me worry !!

 
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
8.11.2022
PS: both photos taken this morning at same place !