Getting Rid Of Caterpillars

By David (Guest Post)

Hi. We are beginning to see the first sign of the dreaded hairy caterpillar in Spain which is dangerous for our ground sniffing Yorkshire Terrier. Has anyone any ideas how we can get rid of these? We have destroyed two nests that were on our pine trees but we have been told not to tread on them as the spines fly off and are still dangerous. We need an urgent reply if at all possible please.
d_dutch at sky dot com (please remove spaces and change at to @ and dot to .)

By

Har'iet

http://www.whatsthiscaterpillar.co.uk/america/

Here is a site that might help you identify them. You have butterfly bushes which would attract all kinds of butterflies. Please do not kill them until you find out what they are. You may be killing all the butterflies you try to attract with your flowers. If you only saw several, not dozens and dozens it is more possible they are butterfly larvae.

If you know what kinds of butterflies you have in your garden, you can type them in at : http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/search
and see if they have the caterpillar picture.

You could put a few in a large jar with holes in the lid and put a stick and various leaves until you know what they eat, and then see if they turn into a chrysalis or spin a cocoon. If the became chrysalis they are butterflies.

One final site: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/caterpillar.html They say if you tell them where you found it and send a photo they will try to identify it for you.

Harriet

By

Deeli

I too think you should find out what kind of caterpillars they are and also find out about their life cycles, advantages and disadvantages, before possibly poisoning them.

Every creature great and small deserves thoughtfulness and not just a quick easy fix for our comfort. In nature even a snake or a spider have their ecological purpose for our ultimate advantage even if we don't always like their ways.

By

Cindy in Texas

Seven Dust will kill them. We use it in the garden. When it rains or gets wet it must be reapplyed.

By Paula (Guest Post)

Some caterpillars turn to butterflies, are you sure what kind of caterpillar you have? I would hate to poison a caterpillar without knowing what it was going to turn into; do you have a college or an extension service that you could contact and ask if they know what kind of insect it it?

By

Cyinda

There's this great non-toxic new bug spray that's safe to use around kids, pets & food. It's called "ORANGE GUARD". (because it's made from oranges)

HERE'S MORE INFO:
http://www.orangeguard.com/

* As far as caterpillars go, they seem to have a sort of "life cycle" because it seems every 7 or 11 years or so, here in Western Washington we have an infestation of caterpillars too... Then the state or county sometimes comes in with helicopters & sprays the trees... When the caterpillars invade, the leaves all have massive amounts of holes in them from the critters snacking. It looks cool with the moonlight beaming through the holes in the leaves, but it devastates the trees for years to come.