Help! Severe caterpillar sting (possibly buckmoth caterpillar)
midcitygardener
13 years ago
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morz8 - Washington Coast
13 years agomidcitygardener
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Caterpillar List so far
Comments (12)Those are the darkest pipevine swallowtail cats I've ever seen, Linda, and their red things are hard to see! I've never seen any that color. Mine go through a red stage in some of their early instars, but then turn black, except for the red things, can't remember what they're called. I'm sorry you're not getting any rain - 'wish I could send you some of what we're getting! Sherry P.S. I'll redo my caterpillar list here - 1 lone red admiral - the false nettle patch is declining, I think because it's getting totally shaded out. I'm going to start transplanting plants that are in dense shade to other wet but sunny areas nearby. Finding one RA nest is like eating one potato chip - it doesn't usually happen, so a revamping of my nettles should help. 5 or 6 spicebush swallowtails 2 palamedes swallowtails too many to count pipevine swallowtails (plus many chrysalides from this year's crop) 2 American ladies (plus 6 or 7 chrysalides) 1 tiger swallowtail 8 pearl crescents I'll be bringing in at least 2 red-spotted purples when they hatch. I'll look for more eggs tomorrow. Sherry This post was edited by misssherry on Wed, Apr 30, 14 at 19:50...See MoreRegal Moth Caterpillars and Possible Viceroy Cats
Comments (13)The 'stick ups' are called scoli. I've never read anything that gives a reason for them being there, so I assume it's just to make the caterpillar appear ferocious so as to scare away predators. They're harmless to people, don't sting, and I've seen many pictures of people holding the late instar caterpillars in their hands, kids included. Each instar of this species is different from the others. The scoli are much taller in relation to overall body size in the early instars than they are in the later instars. In the later instars, their body gets thick, and the scoli point backward. There are many pictures of them on the internet, but I'll be posting pictures of each instar, since they're so unique. The adults are beautiful. Since they only have one flight per year, I won't see the adult moth until next year. I'll have to provide these with a bucket of leaves or paper towels for them to burrow into when they're ready to make their pupa. I'll keep them on the porch unless we have an extremely cold night (like the one last January) and then I'll bring them into my unheated guest room. I'm getting ahead of myself here, though. They're not the easiest ones to raise, so I don't want to jinx things by talking about their pupae just yet! :) Sherry...See Moresick giant swallowtail caterpillars!!! HELP!!!
Comments (3)thank you for the information! I am hoping that they didn't eat enought to kill them, one of them seems to be doing better already, he's not excreting any greenish fluid anymore and his color is back to normal, he is moving around now too, and not falling over anymore, i am keeping their box completely clean and removing all their droppings as soon as i see them, i read somewhere that this may help, the other one still looks greenish, but he is moving around a little more, he is now able to stay upright some too, instead of just curled up on his side, I hope they can make it, I feel so terrible for them, they haven't had an easy time, almost from the day I saw them, there has been heavy rain everyday except for past day and a half, and wind, they made it through all of that and now they are having to deal with this! one of the other caterpillars actually made it to pupa stage, sunday, it was amazing to watch the chrysalis form. but yesterday evening, I checked the tree, and it was gone, the little strands of silk were there and just dangling, i guess a bird got it, I don't know. I went ahead and the last two inside as well, they both seem healthy, and i don't think they ate any leaves off of the new tree, so hopefully they will stay healthy and survive and become butterflies. Do you happen to know of anywhere online where I can order host plants for these caterpillars that would be safe to feed them? thanks again for replying, I really appreciate it!...See MoreCaterpillars come back to eat petunias every year
Comments (3)Very common pests of petunias are the Petunia or Tobacco (Geranium) Budworms and one means of control for these is Bacillus thuringiensis - Kurstaki. I have used several brands of BtK and have not had any that had an odor so you may want to look around for another brand. There are several. Neem Oil products, possibly Spinosad, maybe a pyrethrin may also help. Systemics are not a good choice since they are linked to the death of pollinators....See Morerhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years agomidcitygardener
13 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
13 years agothreelongdogs
13 years agoasturnut
13 years agomattdahutt_yahoo_com
13 years agon2tropical_aol_com
12 years agorhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years agoguyfroml
10 years ago
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morz8 - Washington Coast