In reality, the occupant wasn’t yet ready to emerge, but having sensed danger, was flexing its scales to scare us away. It pulsated at intervals and my younger one kept constant watch, should a brand-new Baron butterfly emerge at any moment. The quadrangular pupa had a gilded, protruding edge around the middle. The second leaf had what resembled an exquisite green pendant hanging by silken strands, the chrysalis of a Common Baron butterfly. I recognised the caterpillar from a similar sighting in a mango orchard in Kolar many years ago. Our mango saplings were now playing larval hosts to the young of Common Baron butterflies.
A leaf green caterpillar rested along the central leaf vein with feathery bristles fanned out on either side, making it practically undetectable. Closer inspection revealed an ethereally beautiful creature. I couldn’t spot anything on the first leaf at plain sight. Two months on, in August, Siddhamma gifted me two more mango leaves. The matter was settled after relaying instructions to farm hands to tread with caution around mango saplings. They were harmless, beyond nibbling a few leaves. They also go by the name ‘green marauder’, a felicitous moniker in my view. These stinging nettle slug caterpillars feed on mango leaves and are considered pests. Mango trees are the larval hosts of cup moths. The outlandish sci-fi creature was a Stinging Nettle Slug Caterpillar, the larva of the Slug Moth or Cup Moth. It appeared to have emerged straight out of J K Rowling’s ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’, a book about magical creatures in the Harry Potter’s realm. A pair of fluorescent yellow bands with tiny spikes embellished the flanks. The little green blighter sported four pairs of menacing prickly horns at either end. The boys and I were decidedly fascinated with Siddhamma’s specimen. I suspect they hand me these just for the fun of watching an artless city slicker gape wide-eyed at the bugs, like a kid at a shiny new toy! Our farmhands are tickled at my obsession with what they term ‘hula-huppate’ in Kannada - lowly insects in their view - and promptly bring such finds for my examination. When breaking for lunch, Siddhamma brought me a partially devoured mango leaf with the culprit. The men too grumbled of stings as they uprooted an overgrown agave plant nearby. Siddhamma, who was mulching mango saplings with the other women, complained of a stinging sensation along her arm. I was at the southeastern fringe of Navilu Kaadu farm inspecting a coconut sapling.
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