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Project Noah Nature School
Unsure of the actual type of moth that will emerge, but after lots of research I have discovered that this is a picture of a pupating leaf-roller caterpillar. The caterpillar rolled itself up in the fern and will emerge 8-11 days later as a moth. The moth will then take flight to mate and lay eggs, thus starting the cycle over again.
Spotted on Jun 7, 2014
Submitted on Jun 9, 2014
2 Comments
Most of the leaves of this fern were normal looking, but several of them had these weird balls on them, weighing them down. If you look closely you can see the spider-webby type substance holding the leaves in place... some kind of caterpillar or insect im assuming, because i've never seen a fern look like that before.
Sometimes ferns remained furled like this and just take a little longer to open, but if it is a nest, that is very cool!