Last year found many Orange Dog cats on the orange tree I have growing in yard. Did not know that the cats would turn into a Giant Swallowtail butterfly. They looked like bird droppings and when we got close they protruded this fang like thing. Was told that if we didn't get rid of them they would eat our little orange tree. So we got rid of them. Is there any way, if they come back, as of yet have not, we can help the giant swallowtail emerge? Any advice would be welcomed. Thank you.
Orange Dog
You'll just have to wait until a Giant Swallowtail comes along and lays eggs on it. They did very little damage to mine. They only ate the new growth leafs
I keep have orange trees started so I can feed them.. Last year they were on my small starts and if I thought it was going to freeze I ran the plant inside with the bird dropping cats. LOL.
First off...don't use any pesticides on your citrus trees. If you have used pesticides hopefully you can rinse it off?
The GST will lay eggs on the new leaves so possibly those will be okay...but eventually any caterpillars that hatch will start munching on the surrounding leaves. The caterpillars will grow quite big but they are really legarthic and don't eat as much as you'd think a caterpillar of that size would.
Am sure the butterflies will come back to lay eggs...you just need to watch and wait. Good luck!!!
~ Cat
Thank you all for the feedback. TexasPuddyPrint, I did not use pesticides, used soapy water, which did a good job. I'm not a believer of pesticides, not only harm the plant but me also. I do hope they come back. Can anyone tell me what is a cat cage? And would it help to use, instead of letting them eat my young trees.
Dorothy