drsoidberg, the kinds of wasps that (I believe) the others are talking about are not parasitoids, but predators. For example, paper wasps and mud daubers will snatch a caterpillar, sting to paralyze it, then carry it off to the nest where it's sealed inside with an egg from the wasp. Wasp larvae will then be able to feed on live (though sedated) caterpiller until ready to emerge as an adult. Yellow jackets, too, are predators and will feed directly on caterpillars and other insects. The much smaller parasitic wasps are the ones that lay their eggs on or under the skin of feeding caterpillars. Their larvae feed on the living caterpillar from the inside out, emerging only when ready to fly away as adults. In my gardens, the hummingbirds really enjoy the monarda, and I'd not remove it primarily because of that. But, a diversity of insects is healthy, too.

That is so great! I saw the first swallowtails on my new butterfly bush today. I was so excited, the the hummingbird fley by me, she had been drinking nectar from the purple duranta erects flowers. There was a black swallowtail on the fig tree, I have no idea why it was there. And momma bluebird was perching on the outside of the house feeding her babies. It was a great day! kay

Any chance of a photo? It's most certainly not a worm, but a caterpillar, and, if it's not doing a lot of damage, it might even be something you would not want to kill. People plant butterfly gardens all the time, and then go around massacring the caterpillars that would have turned into butterflies. Go figure! If a photo is out of the realm of possibility, can you give us a more detailed description - length, width, skin texture, any markings.

ok, my pkg came in, it's SO AWESOME!!!! i got gloves withe the rubber thingi on the bottom (yay) and they fit a little loose, so i have moving room!! plum trees lily of the valleys-white caladiums sweet williams gee i knew i'd forget, varigated hosta unkown plant but its a beauty black raspberry and if i forgot any, she could tell ya, oh my vic! thank you so very much!! i can't wait till them tree's get taller!! then them kids can play in them like i did when i was little, that would be so fun!! i loved them all!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! i planted yesterday in our slow soft rain we've been having for like 3 day's now. but my flower beds are filling up with water! i hope my seeds don't go down hill!! it says your supposed to dig them up, but i never knew that til later, but i live in zone 5 and mine came back and i don't mulch. YET!!! it's on my list of do's when my beds get their flowers how i want them. LOL yesterday i went creek digging and found a beautiful purplish looking flower almost like a monarda or something and monarchs were all over them, so i brought a few home, i love butterfly's!!i'm taking my gloves next time, i found some wild strawberry's, i love wild stuff!! hey hazel can't wait, you been yammerin on forever about this, so we've been sitting on pins and needles waiting now get on with it!! LOL na, i'm just feeling spunky for a bit today, LOL first time in a while, LOL i just found out we won't be losing out on the rest of our grant afterall!! we can use it in appliances and stuff. cool!! in 3 more years i'm gonna be very picky!! and not choose any fast talking contractor!! LOL i hope everyone has a great day!! and vela, don't worry!! you had them for a while!! and ya always have the pics!! LOL