bird poop caterpillars (Japanese swallotail?) help

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max100 Pearland, TX Jun 21, 2010

I have an orange, a lime and a lemon tree, and while they survive last year's snow in Houston, their new leaves are getting attacked by caterpillars. These guys looks just like bird poop and they can be up to 3 inches long. From what i read, they look like japanese yellow swallotail caterpillars. I've been hand picking them and throwing them over the fence, but they keep coming. All the new tender leaves are full of holes. Today i sprayed BT all over them, but i'm not sure it'll be effective. I also feel a bit bad about killing the suckers even though they're destroying my trees. I've seen quite a few butterflies in my garden lately and they are very pretty, but i'd rather have oranges than butterflies. Any helpful hints to deal with these things will be much appreciated!

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JoParrott Richland, WA(Zone 7b) Jun 21, 2010

They LOVE citrus leaves- I hatched several dozen when I lived in FL- don't destroy them- they are so beautiful-

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trackinsand mid central, FL(Zone 9a) Jun 21, 2010

citrus is their host plant. the Bt will kill them but they will die in vain because even with eaten leaves, your trees would have produced fruit. they don't destroy the tree. the leaves grow back quickly....i'm sad.

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GKayfes Rosemount, MN(Zone 4b) Jun 25, 2010

Here is a link to the Citrus swallowtail. The caterpillar (larva) resemble bird droppings it says.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_demodocus

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mjsponies DeLand/Deleon Spring, FL(Zone 8b) Jul 25, 2010

I'm with tracks...........they won't hurt your tree, you'll get your fruit. We have a lemon tree and have more lemons' than we can eat...and we share the tree with the Swallowtails.

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