The Metanastria hyrtaca are back. So far so good - no carcasses, and they’re mostly already into their final instar.
Here’s a selection of six faces from the 11 caterpillars that were collected. I’d shoot more of them but it’s a chore getting them onto a branch one-by-one and then keeping them there… they’re either as lazy as muck and no amount of prodding would get them moving (some would then oooooze this icky black substance from their mandibles), or they’d scamper all over the place in an obstinate determination to avoid getting pinched by my pair of chopsticks-cum-forceps.
I guess… if you try really hard, you could tell them apart. After all, they’re all individuals… as are we all.