These caterpillars are eating my whole garden. They seem to bore into some plants and also eat leaves. I see lots of moths or butterfly's flying around that I assume are of the same as these caterpillars as they are very abundant. I've tried BT to get rid of them but it's not working! I'd love to find out what these are and how to stop them! Thanks for the help!
It looks like a very young caterpillar of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens - see http://nfp.snf.ch/SiteCollectionDocuments/medienmitteilungen/mm_130313_blattlaeuse_h.jpg for a more mature specimen. Ignore the differences in color (this species is highly variable in that respect) and compare the pattern of the dark spots.
See http://homeguides.sfgate.com/tobacco-budworms-eating-petunias-90067.html and http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05581.html for control advice
This message was edited Sep 22, 2015 10:06 AM
Thank you! Those do look very similar. Also I got a picture of the white moths flying around everywhere. They come around the same time I see these caterpillars. From what I've found they seem to be cabbage butterfly's but their caterpillars don't look like the ones I have!
