Found it for ya...

Here is a link that might be useful: cat ID

Dont know, but its pretty!

Cant say i know for sure, but i think caterpillars eat leaves. Id say squash em!

dont kill it, just relocate it to some other property!

Definitely kill it or relocate it.

Well, the first response from noinwi was dead on. It is a tent caterpillar and from the description, not something I want on my pepper plants. I will going to the trap range tomorrow night to sharpen up on my marksmanship. I dont want to damage my pepper plants when I take out the caterpillars with my 12 gauge.
thanks for the help guys. I know someone will have the answers on this forum.

He was about to have lunch and you came along and ruined it. Ha ha. You may want to use a 10 gauge. He looks pretty large.

Yeah, gotta use the right tool for the job!! LOL

Romy6, I have two 10 gauges. A Remington SP10 auto and an HR DU Special Single. I got them both set up with trip triggers right now. Oh and by the way, I am seeing lots of those little bastards all over the place right now. They must love this hot weather. No more on the peppers however.

Hey, Esox!
I thought I'd piggyback on your Thread, since the title is perfect ;-)
I'm wondering if anyone recognizes this critter, and if it is a friend or a foe.

Josh

Josh, piggyback away.
I dont have an ID for you and at first glance, I would guess that guy isn't a menace but upon closer inspection, I see a significant amount of what appears to be insect caused leaf damage. The damage, along with the proximity of that little critter would have me reaching for either Romy's 7 dust or my shotgun.

I hope you didn't deep six him, because this little fella looks to be a young assassin bug, and definately a friend. They suck juices, but not from leaves, but from the suckas that suck your plants. To put it in other words, they eat the bad bugs.

Joe

To be more specific, it's a "zelus renardii", or "leaf hopper assassin bug". So, I'd bet he's looking for the leaf hopper that chewed on the leaf in your picture. Needless to say, you're gonna wanna keep that little critter around. And since you doubted him, you outta head outside and go make nice with him, maybe give him a pep talk.

Joe

OK, everyone, put down the guns and Sevin bottles and move away from the garden. Seems everyone is on the same side here. Gonna have to let the undercover bug do his thing on this one.

Thanks, fellas! I didn't kill it ;-)
I figured it was either the eater of the leaves or the eater of the eater of the leaves....
I've seen earwigs on my plants, too, curse them.

Josh

Aphids. It's eating aphids....
an explosion of aphids, to be precise, all over this particular plant.
So I picked up the little assassin, moved him to another pepper, smashed every aphid,
pulled a few leaves, and then hosed off the entire plant before returning the
assassin bug to its place.

Josh

Hey, Josh, go out an buy one of them new Assassin Bug calls. Throw out some decoys and call in a few of his buddies. Get that buffet under way. mmmmmmmmmmmmm, aphid!

I dont think I have ever seen an aphid, hope I never do. Maybe they are not found up north here? I have just been flicking the occasional Japanese Beetle this summer.

Esox, I will garuntee you that if you look close enough, you'll find aphids. I have them every year, en masse, and the usual culprit host is my aspen trees. So, with that said, I can assure you that those blasted aphids do indeed live up here in the north. Go to your local Stein Garden & Gifts and take a gander through their plant greenhouse. You'll get to see aphids, mealybugs, scale, fungus gnats, and many other pests! It's like an insect zoo. Oh, and Josh, aphids are suckers, not leaf eaters. The assassin bug will eat them too, but I'd bet you have another culprit that is actually eating the leaves. I'd wager on leafhopper(s).

Joe

Hmmmm, tell me how to find the aphids on my plants...where and what to look for???

They are usually on the undersides of leaves, in congregations. They are usually a greenish color, which makes them hard to see. They can also have a yellowish tinge, or even darker colors. They are quite small, but a dead give away is when you spot ants climbing up whatever plant they are on. I'm not saying you particularly have them on your garden plants, but I'm sure they are in your yard somewhere. They do like pepper plants though. So, if you see ants climbing up a tree, or on any of your plants, take a closer look; they are feeding on the honeydew secretions that the aphids leave from feeding on plant sap. If you don't find any, count your blessings, becuase I have to deal with these little crappers every year.

Joe

I'm pretty sure that earwigs are eating the leaves....
The aphids are just distorting the new growth.
Bloody aphids.

Josh

I am gonna go look closely at my plants this afternoon. I have plenty of ants. Always do. The damn things are all over the place around here. Taking the Shotgun too.

I got me a fat tomato hornworm yesterday...
it was on my grape vines, but I ain't takin' chances.

Josh

Joe1980: I looked at several leaves on each of my plants and find nothing nefarious inhabiting their undersides. I suppose I do have Aphids around but just like I am constantly flicking off Japenese Bettles, you seem to have none around you. I just love to "snap" those little bastards with my finger and watch them go zinging across the yard. They are about the size of a pea.

Yeah, no Japanese beetles on my peppers but they sure have enjoyed the long beans....

Esox, I wouldn't be flicking them on the ground. I would bet my top dollar that they are like squirrels on your bird feeder. You can shoo them off all you want, and they'll just come right back. If I was you, I'd be giving them swimming lessons. Or, if you want some entertainment from them, do like I used to do with june bugs: feed em to the fish. Collect them in a bug jar, and take them with you to a pond where there's blue gills. It is real fun, especially for the kids, to toss the beetles on the water's surface, and watch the fish snatch them up. I also used to have a 75g aquarium with warmouth bluegills, and they LOVED june bugs. As for the aphids, count your blessings, because once you get one, you get millions. Be careful if you ever buy any seedlings to plant, which I do for tomatos. They hitch a ride in, and then you are stuck with em.

Joe

Yah, all my plants were seed started this year. I dont know if those Japanese Beetles are really eating my peppers. The occaisonal one I find on a pepper plant are just crawling around. I have seen them make a mess of a rose bush though and they sure like the Zinnia plant my daughter has going. When I flick them, I like to try to bounce them off something hard. Many times I do kill or at least knock them out. If i see where they fall on the ground, I will squash 'em. But I am sure some regroup to eat another leaf.

Ahhh yes, the classic zinnia, planted from seed via the kids' school. I'll have to keep my eye on my daughter's zinnia for japanese beetles then, but, then again, she is toying with it umpteen times a day, so I'll leave it to her.

Joe

Soooo, after checking out my garden this afternoon, I am heading across the deck to the door, glance over at the wife's hibiscus, and there it is.....a japanese beetle. So, after saying I've never seen one in my yard, I must have forgot to knock on wood. But, the silver lining: they are much easier to pick off then aphids.

Joe

Yep, and if you practice, you can get them with your 12 gauge without harming the plant.
Bruce