Caterpillars... 1000's of them!

17 years ago

Can someone please give me some insight into why I have so many caterpillars this year?

There are literally thousands of them and they appear to be "nesting" at the trunk of only my bradford pear trees. They are all over the yard also, but they are definitely congregating on the bradford pears.

Anyone experience this before? What's going on? Do I need to be concerned about them overtaking my soon to be commercial cut flower beds?

If so, what can I do about them? I'm trying to keep things organic here but that depends on if a more drastic solution is necessary.

Will these caterpillars eventually be butterflies or possibly something else? When? What are the possibilities?

What are my options?

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Comments (5)

Kimmsr
17 years ago
Most caterpillars will end up being either moths or butterflies. What to do with yours depends on which ones they are and to find out for sure contact your local office of the Clemson University USDA Cooperative Extension Service for identification.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clemson CES
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
There are not too many caterpillar species that 'flock' like that, in huge numbers! ;-) In your location, I am guessing that you're witnessing the annual eastern tent caterpillar explosion! (I've attached a link with an image below.) This is truly an annual event, though some years are worse than others.

The good news is that by the time that they begin wandering all over the place, they are pretty much past the eating stage and are looking for places on which to make a cocoon. They pose no threat to your flower beds. Look for insignificant, tan colored moths later on in the season. You won't be able to miss them; they'll swarm street lamps, porch lights, etc. like crazy.

These caterpillars have a huge number of natural pests, and at this stage (on the move), they are very vulnerable. No harsh pesticides are warranted, especially since such chemicals would be harmful to all of the predators and parasites of these caterpillars, too.

There is a great deal of information about eastern tent caterpillars on the internet. If you need any help locating some good facts, let me know.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1152402}}
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emyers
Original Author
17 years ago
rhizzo1 & kimmser-
Thanks a bunch for the links and info. I'll look into the types some more to get a better handle on things.
Great news that I probably won't need to use pesticides etc.
Any idea why they "targeted" my bradford pears?
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years ago
Are they the tent caterpillars?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
17 years ago
if you are going commercial ... do as kimmer suggested and contact your extension agent .. you pay your taxes ... so take advantage of what they offer .... do it soon before they are swamped by summer ...

take a baggie with some bugs in it.. and ask for a phone call back ....

if you are going commercial.. you are bound for failure if you are going to rely on us to keep you going.. without even a picture ...

i wish you luck .. ken

Caterpillars... 1000's of them!

Comments (5)

Kimmsr

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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Caterpillars... 1000's of them!

Comments (5)

Kimmsr

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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emyersOriginal Author

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

emyers
Original Author