If you ask any gardener, there are very few “good caterpillars.” These eating machines can lay waste to a garden over the course of a few days and nights, often leaving vegetables inedible and dying.
A few caterpillars, though, are worth celebrating. Among them is the woolly bear caterpillar, a familiar fall sight in cooler regions of North America. Another favorite is the caterpillar that becomes a monarch butterfly. That caterpillar is often reared in special cages as part of a school's science curriculum.
After those two favorites, the idea of good caterpillars fades fast. In their place is a long list of vegetable, fruit, berry and tree marauders. While these caterpillars serve a place in the ecology of an area, it can be hard to convince any gardener that they should be tolerated since they can so quickly decimate a season’s worth of hard work.
17 Bad Caterpillars - and how to evict them from your gardenCaterpillars are not a type of animal in the same way as, for instance, cats. They are not an individual species or group of species. Instead, caterpillars are the larvae form of butterflies or moths, both of which are insects in the order of Lepidoptera.
Most caterpillars share a number of characteristics, including an elongated body and a hardened head capsule. While it may seem like caterpillars have dozens of legs, the truth is they have only six real legs. Additional sets called “prolegs” are stumpy, used for climbing and not present in their adult form.
Beyond those features, caterpillars can vary widely in appearance. Some have hair, some have spots or stripes and they come in a variety of colors, too.
For the most part, caterpillars eat plants to bulk up and fuel the transition into the pupal stage of life. Which plants do they eat? It varies from species to species, which explains why some plants are so vigorously attacked – it’s often the only suitable food available.
Almost every caterpillar can fall victim to a hungry bird. Caterpillars are full of protein and often easy targets for birds. What’s a little more surprising is that wasps and other insects regularly target caterpillars.
Those wasps may eat the caterpillar directly, but are far more likely to use the caterpillar as a host for their own larvae. They lay eggs on the caterpillar, and their larvae eat the host caterpillar as the wasp larvae grow.
Many caterpillars are out to destroy your favorite plants, whether they’re after a seasonal vegetable, berries or a favorite tree. Some even target your lawn! Here’s a look at some of the worst:
Armyworm
Armyworm –The armyworm is so named for its troop-like procession as a group eats through all available food sources. Once done, the group marches to the next available food source, essentially decimating all vegetation in its path.
Targets:
Grass, oats, wheat, fall rye, corn, barley, bean, cabbage, carrot, onion, pea, pepper, radish, sweet potatoFeatures:
Mature larvae are about 1 ½ inches long and are dark green to black. Sides have white, orange and brown stripes.Eradication:
Safer® Brand I
nsecticide, biological control, parasitic flies, predationBollworm
Bollworm – Several species of bollworm exist and many prefer to target cotton plants but they will also infest many other garden vegetables. One species, the corn earworm, is listed below in its own entry.
Targets:
Cotton, tomato, corn, okra, soybean, potato, pigeon pea, chickpea, cow pea, sorghum, rice,Features:
Green and yellow to red-brown in color with a yellow head. Dark stripes along the 1 1/2-inch-long body.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological control, careful weeding, winter wateringCabbage Looper
Cabbage loopers – This well-camouflaged caterpillar chews a variety of holes in cabbage leaves and is a serious pest in many gardens.
Targets:
Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, many other vegetable cropsFeatures:
Green with two white lines down the back and one along each side. Measuring about 1 ½ inches, they move in an inch-worm fashion.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological control, hand picking, row covers, weed control in off seasonCorn Earworm
Corn earworm (also called tomato fruitworm) – Many consider the corn earworm to be one of the top North American insect pests based on the financial damage it causes to a wide variety of crops.
Targets:
Primarily corn and tomato, but many other vegetables, field crops, weeds, fruit and berry plants are occasional targetsFeatures:
Larvae have an orange or light brown head with a body that can be a variety of colors, including brown, green, pink, yellow or black. Pupae are a mahogany brown.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological controlCutworm
Cutworm – This caterpillar usually attacks a young garden at night, literally chewing through the stem of a young plant. This tactic usually kills the plant shortly thereafter.
Targets:
Most garden cropsFeatures:
Dull brown caterpillar that measures 1 to 2 inches. Additional markings help it blend in with the soil.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, keeping your garden sparse of other plants or weeds, protective borders around stems, hand picking at nightDiamondback Moth Caterpillar (Image courtesy of University of Illinois)
Diamondback Moth – Cabbage and related plants are the prime food for this caterpillar, which probably came from Europe but is now found on several continents including North and South America.
Targets:
Cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard, watercress, turnip, radishFeatures:
Green with white spots on a half-inch body that is mostly hairless.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological control, heavy rainfallFruittree Leafroller
Fruittree leafroller – Feeds on new leaves, giving them a ragged appearance. In order to pupate, they roll and tie fruit tree and ornamental leaves together. Several species of leafroller caterpillars exist.
Targets:
Apple, apricot, cherry, pear, plum, prune, quince, raspberry, currant, loganberry, blackberry, gooseberry, English walnut, ash, box elder, elm, locust, oak, poplar, willow, roseFeatures:
Green with a black head that turns brown as it ages.Eradication:
Insecticide, parasitic waspsGreen Cloverworm (Image courtesy of Iowa State University)
Green Cloverworm – From from the East Coast to the Great Plains, this worm is commonly found in soybean fields, although it rarely reaches pest levels.
Targets:
Soybeans, alfalfa, bean, clover, cowpea, strawberry, vetchFeatures:
Pale green with one or two white stripes on each side of the half-inch body.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological control, predators, cleaning up debrisGypsy Moth
Gypsy moth caterpillar – This invasive insect has been spreading from the Northeast since 1900 and reached epidemic proportions in 1980 and 1981. Since that time, massive outbreaks have been rare.
Targets:
Oak, maple, elm, apple, birch, alder, poplar, willowFeatures:
Look for five pairs of blue spots followed by six pairs of red on its back.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, trapping with burlap rings set at eye level on the trunkImported Cabbageworm
Imported cabbageworm – First observed in Quebec, Canada, in the 1860s, by the 1880s it had spread to the Rocky Mountains. It’s now widespread through much of North America.
Targets:
Cabbage, cauliflower, collard, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, horseradish, kale and kohlrabi. Occasionally found on some flowers.Features:
Green, velvety appearance measuring a little more than an inch long.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological control, row coversMimosa webworm – Introduced to the U.S. in the 1940s, this pest spins a web around leaflets and then feeds inside this protective sack.
Targets:
Mimosa, honeylocustFeatures:
A bit longer than a half-inch, it has a slender gray or dark brown body with five white stripes.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological controlOrange Tortrix (Image courtesy of Washington State University
Orange tortrix – This pest is generally found in California, Oregon and Washington state where they usually target grape plants and make webbing nests among berry clusters. Its feeding habits usually trigger rot around soft tissues.
Targets:
Apple, grape, avocado, citrus, blackberry, dewberry, raspberryFeatures:
Straw-colored with brown heads. A total length of ½ inch.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, careful cleaning and weeding, parasitic wasps, spidersEastern Tent Caterpillar
Tent caterpillar, Eastern – Tent caterpillars, the eastern tent, in particular, were first observed as far back as 1646, and these tent caterpillars experience population outbreaks every eight to 10 years. The presence of tent worms is usually indicated by the appearance of silky bags attached to the crooks of trees.
Targets:
Cherry, crabapple, apple. Occasionally attacks other deciduous trees and shrubs.Features:
Hairy, yellowish-brown 2-inch-long caterpillars with a row of blue spots on their backs.Eradication:
Insecticides, removal of nests, removal of egg masses, parasitic wasps, predatorsTent caterpillar, Western – This early-season defoliator usually hita host plants in May and June. Its silken tent is usually the first sign of an infestation.
Targets:
Aspen, willow, poplar, cottonwood, mountain mahogany, birch, apple, plum, cherry, oakFeatures:
Two-inch-long black body with a white stripe down the back.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, removal of nests, removal of egg masses, parasitic wasps, predatorsTobacco Budworm
Tobacco budworm – This light-colored caterpillar bores into the buds and blossoms of a variety of plants. It is closely related to the corn earworm.
Targets:
Tobacco, soybean, flax, cotton, clover, alfalfa, tomato, lettuce, cabbage, cantaloupe, pea, squash and many others, including weeds and flowersFeatures:
Green-tinted body with white bands that measures about 1 ½ inches.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological control, parasitic wasps, weedingTomato Hornworm
Tomato hornworm – This major garden pest targets the upper portions of its host plants with its voracious appetite. Gardeners often have a hard time spotting these large caterpillars because their color camouflages them so well.
Targets:
Tomato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco, moonflowers, potatoFeatures:
A pudgy green caterpillar with v-shaped markings on its sides. A black horn-like protrusion juts from its backside, giving its name.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, biological control, hand picking, parasitic wasps, weeding to limit egg-laying opportunitiesTomato Pinworm
Tomato pinworm – Look for this pest in perpetually warm states, including Texas, California and Florida. Outside of these areas, this worm may appear in greenhouses.
Targets:
Tomato, eggplant, potato, nightshade familyFeatures:
Larvae are tiny (about 1/3 of an inch) and yellowish gray with a small head. Pupae start out green and turn brown and measure about 1/5 of an inch.Eradication:
Insecticide, parasitic wasps, thorough cleanup at the end of the growing season since pupae hide in ground debrisTussock Moth Caterpillar
Tussock moth caterpillar – Found in the south, this hairy caterpillar can defoliate small trees and they assemble hard-to-scrape-off cocoons. Watch out, their hair can be irritating to the skin.
Targets:
Oak, bald Cyprus, cherry, hackberry, willow, maple, birchFeatures:
Three species exist, but they all have black tufts of hair at the head and rear.Eradication:
Safer® Brand Insecticide, placing individuals in soapy water or removal of cocoons.Safer® Brand has several solutions to battle the caterpillars ravaging your lawn, garden and flowerbeds.
Two potent caterpillar fighting products that use biological control are garden dust and Caterpillar Killer, like our Safer® Brand Caterpillar Killer. These solutions incorporate a bacteria to attack the caterpillar from its inside. Once applied to foliage that the caterpillars ingest, the bacteria (bacillus thuringiensis) releases a deadly toxin in the insect’s gut that causes it to stop eating and starve to death. As further measure, the bacteria begin colonizing the creature, eating it alive from the inside.
A third product, Insect Killing Soap, like our Safer® Brand Insect Killing Soap, will eliminate caterpillars by using potassium salts of fatty acids to break down the caterpillars’ head capsule. Safer® Brand’s Insect Killing Soap, Garden Dust and the 16 oz. Caterpillar Killer are also certified by OMRI to make them compliant for use in organic production.
Additional methods for fighting caterpillars include hand-picking the insects off affected plants, encouraging predators and removing nests and egg masses from the area. Many gardens will also benefit from a thorough cleanup of debris around the garden at the end of the season since many species will overwinter in leaf litter.
Are you at odds with some caterpillars in your garden? Let us know all about your struggles! Take a picture of one of the little devils and share it with us when you visit Safer® Brand on Facebook, where you can join in on the conversation with the organic gardening community!
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`Who are you?' said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, `I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'
`What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. `Explain yourself!'
`I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, `because I'm not myself, you see.'
`I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.
`I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, `for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'
`It isn't,' said the Caterpillar.
`Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet,' said Alice; `but when you have to turn into a chrysalis--you will some day, you know--and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little queer, won't you?'
`Not a bit,' said the Caterpillar.
`Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,' said Alice; `all I know is, it would feel very queer to me.'
`You!' said the Caterpillar contemptuously. `Who are you?'
Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at the Caterpillar's making such very short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely, `I think, you ought to tell me who you are, first.'
`Why?' said the Caterpillar.
Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not think of any good reason, and as the Caterpillar seemed to be in a very unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.
`Come back!' the Caterpillar called after her. `I've something important to say!'
This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again.
`Keep your temper,' said the Caterpillar.
`Is that all?' said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could.
`No,' said the Caterpillar.
Alice thought she might as well wait, as she had nothing else to do, and perhaps after all it might tell her something worth hearing. For some minutes it puffed away without speaking, but at last it unfolded its arms, took the hookah out of its mouth again, and said, `So you think you're changed, do you?'
`I'm afraid I am, sir,' said Alice; `I can't remember things as I used--and I don't keep the same size for ten minutes together!'
`Can't remember what things?' said the Caterpillar.
`Well, I've tried to say "How Doth the Little Busy Bee," but it all came different!' Alice replied in a very melancholy voice.
`Repeat, "You are Old, Father William,"' said the Caterpillar.
Alice folded her hands, and began:--
`You are old, Father William,' the young man said,
`And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head--
Do you think, at your age, it is right?'
`In my youth,' Father William replied to his son,
`I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.'
Father William standing on head
`You are old,' said the youth, `as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door--
Pray, what is the reason of that?'
`In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
`I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment--one shilling the box--
Allow me to sell you a couple?'
Father William somersaulting in the door
`You are old,' said the youth, `and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak--
Pray how did you manage to do it?'
`In my youth,' said his father, `I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life.'
Father William having eaten the goose
`You are old,' said the youth, `one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose--
What made you so awfully clever?'
`I have answered three questions, and that is enough,'
Said his father; `don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!'
Father William balancing eel on nose
`That is not said right,' said the Caterpillar.
`Not quite right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; `some of the words have got altered.'
`It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and there was silence for some minutes.
The Caterpillar was the first to speak.
`What size do you want to be?' it asked.
`Oh, I'm not particular as to size,' Alice hastily replied; `only one doesn't like changing so often, you know.'
`I don't know,' said the Caterpillar.
Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in her life before, and she felt that she was losing her temper.
`Are you content now?' said the Caterpillar.
`Well, I should like to be a little larger, sir, if you wouldn't mind,' said Alice: `three inches is such a wretched height to be.'
`It is a very good height indeed!' said the Caterpillar angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high).
`But I'm not used to it!' pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone. And she thought of herself, `I wish the creatures wouldn't be so easily offended!'
`You'll get used to it in time,' said the Caterpillar; and it put the hookah into its mouth and began smoking again.
This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again. In a minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely remarking as it went, `One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.'
`One side of what? The other side of what?' thought Alice to herself.
`Of the mushroom,' said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.
Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question. However, at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with each hand.
`And now which is which?' she said to herself, and nibbled a little of the right-hand bit to try the effect: the next moment she felt a violent blow underneath her chin: it had struck her foot!
She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but she felt that there was no time to be lost, as she was shrinking rapidly; so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit. Her chin was pressed so closely against her foot, that there was hardly room to open her mouth; but she did it at last, and managed to swallow a morsel of the lefthand bit.
* * * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * * *
`Come, my head's free at last!' said Alice in a tone of
delight, which changed into alarm in another moment, when she
found that her shoulders were nowhere to be found: all she could
see, when she looked down, was an immense length of neck, which
seemed to rise like a stalk out of a sea of green leaves that lay
far below her.
`What can all that green stuff be?' said Alice. `And where have my shoulders got to? And oh, my poor hands, how is it I can't see you?' She was moving them about as she spoke, but no result seemed to follow, except a little shaking among the distant green leaves.
As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.
`Serpent!' screamed the Pigeon.
`I'm not a serpent!' said Alice indignantly. `Let me alone!'
`Serpent, I say again!' repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, `I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!'
`I haven't the least idea what you're talking about,' said Alice.
`I've tried the roots of trees, and I've tried banks, and I've tried hedges,' the Pigeon went on, without attending to her; `but those serpents! There's no pleasing them!'
Alice was more and more puzzled, but she thought there was no use in saying anything more till the Pigeon had finished.
`As if it wasn't trouble enough hatching the eggs,' said the Pigeon; `but I must be on the look-out for serpents night and day! Why, I haven't had a wink of sleep these three weeks!'
`I'm very sorry you've been annoyed,' said Alice, who was beginning to see its meaning.
`And just as I'd taken the highest tree in the wood,' continued the Pigeon, raising its voice to a shriek, `and just as I was thinking I should be free of them at last, they must needs come wriggling down from the sky! Ugh, Serpent!'
`But I'm not a serpent, I tell you!' said Alice. `I'm a--I'm a--'
`Well! what are you?' said the Pigeon. `I can see you're trying to invent something!'
`I--I'm a little girl,' said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day.
`A likely story indeed!' said the Pigeon in a tone of the deepest contempt. `I've seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that! No, no! You're a serpent; and there's no use denying it. I suppose you'll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!'
`I have tasted eggs, certainly,' said Alice, who was a very truthful child; `but little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know.'
`I don't believe it,' said the Pigeon; `but if they do, why then they're a kind of serpent, that's all I can say.'
This was such a new idea to Alice, that she was quite silent for a minute or two, which gave the Pigeon the opportunity of adding, `You're looking for eggs, I know that well enough; and what does it matter to me whether you're a little girl or a serpent?'
`It matters a good deal to me,' said Alice hastily; `but I'm not looking for eggs, as it happens; and if I was, I shouldn't want yours: I don't like them raw.'
`Well, be off, then!' said the Pigeon in a sulky tone, as it settled down again into its nest. Alice crouched down among the trees as well as she could, for her neck kept getting entangled among the branches, and every now and then she had to stop and untwist it. After a while she remembered that she still held the pieces of mushroom in her hands, and she set to work very carefully, nibbling first at one and then at the other, and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter, until she had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual height.
It was so long since she had been anything near the right size, that it felt quite strange at first; but she got used to it in a few minutes, and began talking to herself, as usual. `Come, there's half my plan done now! How puzzling all these changes are! I'm never sure what I'm going to be, from one minute to another! However, I've got back to my right size: the next thing is, to get into that beautiful garden--how is that to be done, I wonder?' As she said this, she came suddenly upon an open place, with a little house in it about four feet high. `Whoever lives there,' thought Alice, `it'll never do to come upon them this size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!' So she began nibbling at the righthand bit again, and did not venture to go near the house till she had brought herself down to nine inches high.
Next chapter: Pig and Pepper