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Caterpillars

Butterflies are cute. Caterpillars are not.

This section is about some of the different caterpillars that you will find munching on garden plants. There are so many different caterpillars that we couldn't possible do them all.

We have included the newest local Bougainvillea caterpillar and the dreaded Geranium and Petunia Bud worm.

What can you do about ravenous munching caterpillars?

There are lots of products that can kill caterpillars but many of them are toxic and will also kill other beneficial insects.

The easiest and best remedy is to spray with any of the non-toxic sprays with the ingredient BT or bacillus thuriengensis or with a product containing Spinosad.

Both of these products kill caterpillars in about one day. Bt only affects caterpillars when they eat a part of the plant that has been sprayed. Bt only kills caterpilars, the aphids and whiteflies or other insects are not affected.

This means you could give them a bath in Bt and they would be fine, clean and healthy! Only when they eat the leaf or flower with Bt spray on it do they die. The larger the caterpillars the stronger you need to make the spray. Bt stays viable on the plant for about 2 weeks. Spinosad stays efective longer...maybe 3 weeks. The butterflies and moths are laying eggs all the time so you must repeat your spray applicationsSpinosad also works on Leaf Miners and thrips but thrips in certain areas are already immune to it.

School lesson #1

So...Children... If the moth lays her eggs 4 weeks after you have srprayed the plant, will the caterpillars die?

Frantic waving of hands..No teacher, the caterpillars will not die. You should spray about every two weeks.

That is correct....What smart readers you all are!

Where can you buy Bt or Spinosad pronounced Spin...No..sad? They come under different brand names. Green Light is the product name of the ones Weidners has. There are several others. It's the ingredient you want to look for.Think tomato soup, You can buy Heinz, Cambells or Knorrs. They are all good, but it is the tomato part that makes it tomato soup.

If you live nearby we appreciate your business. If not go to your local independant Garden Center and they will help you

One note of caution. If you are surfing the web always note where the information is coming from. What is legal spray product in one state is not legal in California.

Ladybugs are good and cute here. In the midwest they are pests and can get into the walls of a house.

If your leaves are being eaten it is some kind of chewing insect or snails, slugs and of course rabbits. the rats are out there and will eat lots of plants.

The following is a work in progress:

Now let's look at some of the caterpillars that are in your garden.

There's a new member of the Looper Gang. In fact there are a lot of them, at least in north San Diego county.

Look at the picture. You can see one in the foreground and one on the leaf behind.They are often on the stem and that makes them even more difficult to see.