Dagger Moth Caterpillar

9/25/22

    The starting image for this PFCC challenge was a feather on a dewy Hosta leaf from Pixabay. It brought to mind a photograph that I had made several years ago of this Dagger Moth caterpillar on a different Hosta leaf. So, I dug through my archives to find the actual caterpillar.

    Some friends and I were in the middle of an outdoor art sale on a Labor Day weekend. There were a lot of people going by and stopping to see what kind of photographs the three of us had for sale at half price. The second day the price went down even further. There's a limit to how many matted photos you can store around the house. Anyway, during a slight lol in the action I noticed this yellow Caterpillar walking along the cement sidewalk. I followed it with my camera phone and took several pictures on the sidewalk. I took a piece of paper and moved him to our sales table that had a white tablecloth on it and took some more pictures. Brenda, the woman who is a yard we used for our sale had a Hosta with bright yellow stripes on it, so I moved the caterpillar there and took some more pictures. Understandably, the caterpillar looked better on the green leaf and on the tablecloth than it did on the cement.

    This wasn't a caterpillar that any of us were familiar with so Brenda went inside to get her insect book. That's where we got the name. It turns out that when a caterpillar is newly hatched, they are a very bright yellow, and as they age their bristles get lighter and lighter so by the time they're ready to spin their cocoon, most of them are white. I've heard some nasty rumors on the Internet that these guys are considered to be poisonous, but it turns out that they are really not. They have thoroughly sharp bristles and it may irritate some people with sensitive skin. I trust scientific studies in a reputable journal far more than some random person posting on the Internet.

    The idea of this mash up of my photo with the starter image sounded really easy. Until I found the original photos of the caterpillar. Look at all those hairs! I used the image that was on the yellow stripe at leaf. Turns out I probably should have found the worm on cement or on the white table cloth to start with, because even as good as Photoshop’s selection tools are, anything that picked up the yellow caterpillar also picked up the yellow stripes. I had to go in with a pinpoint brush on a layer mask to hide the yellow on the leaf. I think I made a pretty good shadow, though. It helped to have the original photo in front of me to see how it needed to be placed.

    Take care and stay well. Don't forget to check out the Saint Clair Art Association's Potters Market on October 14, 15th and 16th. It's a wonderful place to do all your  holiday shopping.