Leave the Leaves ...

... for guys like these. PLEASE! Our pollinators seek a place of cool, dark solitude in which to overwinter as a pupa, usually in the leaf litter. This is an important developmental stage of their metamorphosis before they hatch into the adult forms we recognize as pollinators of our plants and crops.

This green guy, with 'anal prolegs' (ugh), is the larval stage of the Prominent moth. It pupates in soil or in cocoons on the ground, so when we disturb and mulch leaves, we often destroy this fragile life stage. This little guy looks bulbous and filled with fluid, but I do like the leaf-like patterns on its skin.

Can YOU leave the leaves (or most of them, or SOME of them) till spring when critters have hatched? They're important!