What is this EVIL caterpillar eating my navel orange?

billviverette

12 years ago

We found several of these on our navel orange. It appears they had eaten 6-8 leaves overnight. What are they?

TIA,

Bill and Ann

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Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years ago
That's the caterpillar of the gorgeous Giant Swallowtail Butterfly. I'll bet that you've seen them flitting around your yard. The caterpillar is often called an 'orange dog' for some reason.

Look for the single, pearl-like eggs on the upper surface of the leaves and remove them. They aren't hard to spot once you know what to look for.

And those caterpillars don't start out that large. Check your plant out regularly for the new-borns.

Me? I grow seedling citrus FOR the butterflies to lay their eggs on, lol!

Here is a link that might be useful:
billviverette
Original Author
12 years ago
Gorgeous, indeed! Sacrificial seedlings may just be in order.

Thanks,
Bill
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anonapersona1st
12 years ago
OK, we put the 6 caterpillars back onto the orange tree.

Poor baby tree, barely made it through the Big Freeze and just coming back from the base when these critters found it. It has lost about half its leaves to them. It only has 3 stems each about 8 inches long. At least it is now in the ground and has good roots to drive new growth.

On the bright side, two of the caterpillars have repositioned themselves on the trunk and appear to be full grown so maybe they are ready to begin the conversion to butterflies.

There are 3 that are smaller and they still have a lot of eating to do.

Thanks for the info.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years ago
Sometimes, the caterpillars will wander off a short distance to pupate. For example, I often find the chrysalises attached to the siding of our home!

Just so you know, these caterpillars are not without their natural enemies. Though birds and frogs or toads don't usually bother them because of their excellent camouflage (who wants to eat a big, yukky bird dropping?), wasps will gather them up. I've also seen birds go after the chrysalises!

But I've seem many a butterfly emerge, too.
midcitygardener
12 years ago
I found these all over my satsuma tree last year and removed them ASAP. Now I'm pretty sad I did that. Thanks for identifying this caterpillar. What a gorgeous butterfly. I have monarch caterpillars chomping down on my milkweed plant right now and have to remind my significant other not to remove them!
sunlightgardens
12 years ago
There is some great information here!Since I am new to gardening!

What is this EVIL caterpillar eating my navel orange?

Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

billviverette
Original Author

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What is this EVIL caterpillar eating my navel orange?

Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

billviveretteOriginal Author

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anonapersona1st

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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billviverette
Original Author