This is Stella. She is an Eastern Tent caterpillar. We brought her home and put her in our butterfly tent. In two days she spun herself a very impressive cocoon. There's a little problem though, she spun it right along the zipper of the tent door!!!! So we have to be EXTREMELY careful when we open it. I like her a lot, even though she's going to turn into a moth and not a butterfly. We are ordering our Monarch pupae and they will come soon. In a few days she will pop out of her cocoon and I will go back to where I found her and let her go. She is that yellowish thingy at the bottom of the zipper.
We did make a mistake and brought her to NY, which we should never do. We can bring an invasive species to our area and be in big trouble. Mom is scared to let her loose here in Queens. This is her life cycle. Goodbye.
