CLOSED: HELP!! I'm being taken over by these....

DonnaA2Z Jacksonville, FL(Zone 9a) Jul 06, 2007

These orange catepellar things are eating my plants ... literally all of one plant is being eaten. I counted like 10 of these on the plant... I'm sure there are more.

What is it? How do I get rid of it?

Thanks,
Donna

Post #3704767

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kennedyh Churchill, Victoria, Australia(Zone 10a) Jul 07, 2007

Donna,
I think it could be the caterpillar of the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae): http://bugguide.net/node/view/57839/bgpage
http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/1245/

Kennedy

Post #3704910

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Lillielily Ohio Valley, IN(Zone 6b) Jul 07, 2007

Hmm, Donna's caterpillar has ridges on it's back and Kennedy's pics don't show the horizontal ridges, but that may be because Donna's caterpillar is older. These things often go through multiple stages.

Whatever it is, it's probably some cool butterfly or moth. You might want to pick them off with tweezers and put them in a jar with some leaves to eat (punch holes in the jar lid) and don't forget to drop a few drops of water on the foliage you feed them. Then you can watch them pupate and produce cool butterflies.

Lily

Post #3704942

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DonnaA2Z Jacksonville, FL(Zone 9a) Jul 07, 2007

I think that's it. They only seem to be on my Maypops. Strange. There are many other plants around them why just the Maypops? They could be munching on pepper plants, hibiscus, cannas... so many other things. And there are a lot of them.

Any idea if they bite or sting?

Thanks,
Donna

Post #3704973

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fly_girl The Woodlands, TX(Zone 8b) Jul 07, 2007

Donna, those cats will become the beautiful Gulf Fritillarys. The Passionvines are the only plant they will eat. They won't bite or sting and you can raise them in a butterfly cage, like Lily said, and watch them morph into a butterfly. It's very cool.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.samford.edu/schools/artsci/biology/zoology/invertzoo-05f/SUbutterflies/Gulf-fritillary-(Agraulis-v.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.samford.edu/schools/artsci/biology/zoology/invertzoo-05f/pages/43.htm&h=350&w=549&sz=152&hl=en&start=30&tbnid=H_uBhrqTMNsXNM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgulf%2Bfritillary%26start%3D20%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DDNUS,DNUS:2006-36,DNUS:en%26sa%3DN

Post #3705072

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DonnaA2Z Jacksonville, FL(Zone 9a) Jul 07, 2007

I'm looking for one of those "critter keeper" things to put them in. I often come across other things that I'd like to keep until mature as well.

Thanks,
Donna