Fuzzy caterpillar - Friend or Foe ?

12 years ago

This morning I discovered some type of caterpillar eating the foliage on a tiger lily.

It's pale yellow with a slight greenish tinge, about 1-1/2 inches long, it's fuzz is about 1/4 inch, and it has a yellow head. I can see him eating the leaves.

Does anyone know what it is? Should I keep it because it's a good guy, or give it to some kids to put in a jar ?

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Comments (11)

marricgardens
12 years ago
Sorry, I can't help you. When we first started dating, I picked up a Fuzzy Wuzzy, a brown caterpillar with a black band around its middle. DH has an big ick factor regarding caterpillars so I chased him around the yard with it. He's now more used to them but still doesn't like them! Marg
beegood_gw
12 years ago
I'd say if it's eating leaves let the kids put it in a jar( with no food and water).
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You can pretty much count on it that no caterpillar like creature is your friend. They have voracious appetites and they're always vegetarians. (In my book, the insect carnivores are the good guys and the vegetarians are competing with me for the same food.) All kidding aside, the caterpillar and eggs are probably from some beetle that eats cucumbers and their relatives. Pick them all off and destroy them, including all eggs. Consider spraying with a broad spectrum organic pesticide like neem or spinosad. I can't tell what the creature on your eggplant is from the photo, but he doesn't look like any beneficial insect to me. Show him the door.
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Do not purposely put bishop weed (Aegopodium) in your garden unless you want a solid carpet of it mixed with everything else, taking over. Carrots make insignificant foliage that could hide well around other plants until munched, and you might get some carrots to eat. There is no reason not to grow dill next to flowers. Easy to cut off the flower "branches" before the seeds fall so you don't get a dill carpet next year. Fennel is also an attractive plant but may be a thuggish perennial in your area. The butterflies actually like to have the host plants near the nectar plants. There is a butterfly forum if you'd like to delve further. Just remember, the more butterflies you attract, the more host plants will be "used" (eaten.) Add some Asclepias (milkweeds) if you want to attract monarchs. I don't know which kinds do well in your area but that should be abundantly available info in a search.
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I just came across one crawling along a big leaf of swiss chard (no evidence of munching). I just relocated him to the back of the garden and let him be. I've rarely run across more than one or 2 per season (the sandy coloured one and/or the black with brown band in the middle guy), so I don't see their numbers as too threatening. I googled what they'd look like as adults and have never seen the adult virginian moth, maybe once came across a tiger moth. As for those numerous white cabbage butterflies flitting about all over the place, whenever I find a green slender caterpillar (and I suspect that is their larvae form) I 'rub' them out. As often as I do that, it doesn't seem to affect their population the following year!
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northspruce
12 years ago
As far as I know most of the wooly caterpillars are tiger moths. They're only as good as what they're eating so if you don't want your lily eaten, pick it off and keep in a jar/throw over fence/squash with foot. Whatever you're comfortable with.
northspruce
12 years ago
By the way I am the least squeamish person on earth but I just realized I was browsing caterpillars on bugguide.net while eating a bag of caterpillar-shaped cashews, and I almost threw up. LOL
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
Gil, that is funny! So you are the one who has been toasting those pillars. Lol
Konrad___far_north
12 years ago
How about a show & tell on caterpillars.
nutsaboutflowers
Original Author
12 years ago
Eeeewww, Gillian......I looked at the website you mentioned. I sure wish they didn't show such swarms of them ! I searched the pictures for my caterpillar, and didn't find it yet. I took a better look at the darn thing, cut the stem of the lily ( one I don't like anyway) and double bagged it and threw it in the garbage. I don't think I have the stomach to look again on that website or any others for a while. I guess I can do without knowing what it was. Thank goodness cashews are high in calories and not something a person really "needs" to eat to survive, as I doubt I'll be eating any of them anytime soon now, LOL! My stomach hurts. My "ick factor" tolerance is pretty low.

Konrad - If you do a thread on caterpillars, please put a subject matter warning in your first post =:) I don't think I'll appreciate your pictures of them like I do all your other pictures =:)
northspruce
12 years ago
I have a spiders gallery on my Facebook, most of my friends don't appreciate them at all. ;0) In fact some are pretty vocal about "hairspray and a lighter" and such.

I'd join a caterpillar show & tell but I haven't seen any good subjects around lately.
Konrad___far_north
12 years ago
LOL...Nuts..yes I will..

Perhaps later in season or winter when we need something to talk about,...I have two caterpillar now I would like to have it I.D.
Is this the place here?
northspruce
12 years ago
If you want to post a caterpillar I'll see if I can ID it Konrad. Done eating now...
Konrad___far_north
12 years ago
OK...thanks!..It's raining here so I have a bit time now, I start
a new thread.

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Fuzzy caterpillar - Friend or Foe ?

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Fuzzy caterpillar - Friend or Foe ?

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