I don't know what they are, but they sure have chewed up your lily pad leaves!!

Could it be a Salt Marsh Caterpillar? Here's a site at Mercer Arboritum in College Station that shows something similar - just scroll down to it. If it isn't that kind of Caterpillar, maybe they can tell you what it is. Good luck

Anne

Here is a link that might be useful: Mercer Arboritum

I looked at the caterpillar, but the ones I have are mostly white. The fuzz on those is quite a bit darker. I'll keep checking around though to see if I can find out what they are. I pulled some of them off earlier today. I actually saw one crawl off one of the pads into the water and wiggle its way across the top of the water to climb up onto a rock. I was hoping the fish would have eaten it, but they weren't interested and they were probably too prickly for them anyway. The way lilys grow in ponds, it won't be long until it is filled out again.

I also have these things eating my lily. Did you resolve your problem? My lily is about eaten up.

I have been fighting them all summer. Just when I think they're gone and my plants start looking good, they come back and I pick them off and toss them out of the pond. I also have a plant called lizard tail and those have been eating down to the stems. The leaves are just starting to grow back. I have seen the moths and they are pretty little things, but not worth the destruction they are causing. I just keep picking them off. Hopefully after winter, they won't be back next year.

does anybody know what these are and whether they will end up killing my lilies?

Hi micah68 - Why revive a post from 2010? If you have a new question, please post it as new. Also, if you have photos, posting them would probably help.

Nmpondguy. In the original post there was a photo and the caterpillars on my water lily leaves are exactly the same. I did not feel I needed to post another picture. Apparently you can not see the picture. I can see the picture on my cell phone but it does not appear here on my iPad. Too bad you can't see the picture and give me some information. Nobody else in this thread identified the caterpillars. I was hoping someone else would. Here is a photo. Something else to think about-you come across as a little harsh.

Hello Micah68,

Thanks for the photo. I can't ID that caterpillar. But I can tell you how to take care of them: Safer Brand Caterpillar Killer. Lowe's and Home Depot usually sell it for about $10.

Mix 1/4 teaspoon and a quart of water in a spray bottle. Then spray any plants that caterpillars are eating. I use it on my water lilies and tomato plants maybe twice a month. That little 8 oz bottle will last for years :-) The active ingredient is BT, a strain of bacteria that kills caterpillars, but is harmless to humans and pond critters.

As for me coming across as a little harsh. Sorry, that wasn't my intent.

Good luck

Sorry you haven't been able to i.d. the caterpillar causing havoc with your waterlilies. I did a search for 'photos of hairy caterpillars' and one possibility could be a Virginian Tiger Moth Caterpillar - Spilosoma virginica.