With the computers we carry around in our pockets, it’s never been easier to take a photo of an unidentified plant or animal. And with that same pocket computer, it’s never been easier to try and identify it.
We can all be amateur naturalists, right in our own backyards.
To track my lack of knowledge about my own backyard, I created backyardbiome.org, where all of my questions and all of the resources I use to try and answer those questions could coexist in one place.
My first post features this little creature. My grandmother would call it a “housenka,” Czech for caterpillar. It seems that I used to see more as a kid, I loved watching them move, and they always seemed so vulnerable crossing an expanse of sidewalk. The housenkas from my childhood had wide bands of dark brown and orange fuzz (fur?), and not the bright yellow exhibited by this particular caterpillar. I spotted it in the grass while mowing the backyard and had to document it so I could learn more about it.
I found http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Lepidoptera and I think I’ve identified it as the larva of hallysidota tessellaris, a moth.
Turns out identifying caterpillars is fairly difficult and I could absolutely be wrong. If I am mistaken, please let me know in the comments.
backyardbiome.org 