Measuring the Salvia, then the Cilantro

There had been a shortage, or more correctly a general lack (given the pesky habit these guys have of chewing the leaves of otherwise pristine plants) of moth caterpillars this late spring. Until lately, when I've been noticing more of them especially on the herbs and other soft-leafed perennials.

This one caught my eye as it climbed up the red sage and onward onto the cilantro. This is a geometer, as you can tell by the two pairs of abdominal legs. Inchworms, a different taxonomic group, have three pairs of these prolegs, in addition to the three pairs of true legs that are attached to the caterpillar's thorax.