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Arizona Gardening

Caterpillars on passion vine

10 years ago

I have tons on caterpillars on my passion fruit vines. They are decimating them. They are only attacking the "incense" variety and not my "Frederick."

I know they are going to turn into butterflies but I want them off. I have been picking them off with a stick, but hours later, many more turn up. It's the story of the very hungry caterpillar right here at my house. They start out really small and they get huge. I wonder if birds will eat them because I put them in the dry birdbath so the birds can have a snack.

My favorite passion vine is going to get wiped out by these. If you have a good solution, I would like to know.

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Comments (6)

judy_b
10 years ago
The birds aren't likely to eat the Gulf Fritillary caterpillars as they contain poison from eating the plant which has cyanide in it. You can spray the vine with bt. It only hurts the caterpillars. They will stop eating and later die.
Pagancat
10 years ago
Judy B! Good to see you!

My only solution to the cats are hand picking- and growing more passion vines! It's true that they can pretty much take the vine down to the nubs, but, oh - when you have those flocks of Gulf Frittilaries, you'll be so pleased you'll forget about the vine...!
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I love Gulf Fritillary!! I have raised and released 214 since March. It is by far the most numerous butterfly in my area. I have noticed that they seem healthier when eating Passiflora incarnata (old fashioned Maypop) vs Passiflora suberosa (Corky Stem) or Passiflora Incense (incarnata hybrid). They do better on Incense than on Corky Stem. When you raise something in such numbers, probability says you are more likely to see some strange things. The one thing I've seen with Gulf Fritillary is an occasional difficulty eclosing because the part of the chrysalis (a V shaped wedge) that covers the head and "face" doesn't come off. They are left trapped in a mask. If I find them in time, the mask can be carefully removed with a fingernail and the butterfly is totally normal. If I don't find them in time, they have worn themselves out trying to remove it and they never really recover. Here is a photo of one cat that decided pupating in the enclosure was not for her so she used the sliding glass door latch. Here is another from the garden that attached itself to the bronze colored porch screen enclosure but made the chrysalis white in order to look like bird poop. As you can see, nothing ate it and it sprouted wings. :) Anna
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judy_b
10 years ago
Hi Pagan, Good to see you, too. I have one vine that I'm babying for a bit until it gets big enough to grow more leaves than the cats eat. I pull them off. The other vines take their chances. Small sacrifice for having butterflies.

Hey, remember the big ol' green caterpillar I was 'awarded' at our first official get-together? I ran onto it the other day and thought of you. :-)
euqruob
10 years ago
Same thing happened to me. I brought back seeds from Hawaii, planted in the greenhouse, moved them outside..and bang! Catepillars where I had never seen them. They don't eat Frederick or Edulus. I picked them off, squished them, and dusted the plants.
newtoucan
Original Author
10 years ago
Yes, they don't eat my Frederick at all. I wouldn't have minded the Frederick as much because that is sprawling about 25 feet across a trellis. My poor "incense" cost me a lot more and has beautiful purple flowers. I picked at least 30 of them off, came back in a few hours and more caterpillars were there. I picked those off and another few hours and there they are again. I finally remembered, I threw some DE (Diatomaceous Earth) on part of the plant, and haven't seen any more but it could have been the rain that wiped them off. The DE doesn't stick well to the plant so I might have to redust again.
Tiffany Stout
6 years ago
Hi everyone!

I too, have had the cats eat my vine to almost non existence and I am the type to marvel in the butterflies to come.... But this is the 2nd time this season that the cats have eaten my beautiful vines down to nothing and instead of getting the reward of butterflies, wasps show up and treat those cacoons like a smorgasbord! It's heart breaking! Would neem oil get them off?

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