Space Aliens?

Or just Walnut Caterpillars? If you believe the linked to article, the images below are of Walnut Caterpillars, not Space Aliens. But then, you would expect Space Aliens to plant this kind of info in order to mislead us, so who knows?

In any case these Space Aliens, I mean Walnut Caterpillars are the strangest looking things I’ve seen in a long time. They were located in a walnut tree at the Smoky Valley Cemetery, northwest of Lindsborg, Kansas.

They also have a strange lifecycle; a circle really, that we’ll join at the stage shown below.

These creatures are in the larvae stage of the cycle.

From there they will drop to the ground, where they will pupate.

The pupae will overwinter in the ground and in the spring moths will emerge.

Those moths will deposit egg masses on the lower leaf surfaces of affected trees.

These eggs will hatch and the larvae will emerge, which is where I think we began this tale.

(You can click any image to see a larger version.)

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae

Walnut Caterpillar Larvae
Walnut Caterpillar Larvae