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!
bird poop caterpillars (Japanese swallotail?) help
They LOVE citrus leaves- I hatched several dozen when I lived in FL- don't destroy them- they are so beautiful-
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.
Here is a link to the Citrus swallowtail. The caterpillar (larva) resemble bird droppings it says.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_demodocus
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.
Post a Reply to this Thread
More Garden Pests and Diseases Threads
-
Disease Identiciation on Red Twig Dogwood
started by roberca1
last post by roberca1Mar 09, 20242Mar 09, 2024 -
Something eating my bougainvillea
started by Duegen
last post by DuegenJan 04, 20240Jan 04, 2024 -
Something wrong with by Broccoli!
started by TGardener17
last post by TGardener17Apr 19, 20242Apr 19, 2024 -
Something eating my bougainvillea
started by Duegen
last post by DuegenMar 09, 20241Mar 09, 2024 -
Salvaging a fir tree from armillaria
started by kellogs
last post by kellogsMar 16, 20240Mar 16, 2024