Caterpillar all wrapped up???

I've found a few small, green caterpillars, wrapped up in white stuff that looks like cotton on my brugmansias. Most are found in the top leaves, which are wrapped around the cat/cotton. They are chewing leaves, making a holy mess. I've used Bayer 3 in 1 (due for a 2nd go round the 21st of this month) and Bayer Tree & Shrub. I don't have nearly as many bugs/cats, so far, as I had last year. I would have taken a photo but my battery died. Might you know, by my description, what are they and what should I use for them? Thanks so much!!!! SherryLike

Had some tiny green cats on my brugs last week and sprayed them with BT. It seems to have gotten rid of them.

Did yours have the white stuff wrapped around them, I guess it's a cocoon, ya think?? What is BT, a Bayer product?? Thanks, balvenie!!

Sherry, Just thought I'd stick my nose in. BT,(Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis), is a natural bacterium that is enviromentally safe. It will kill many pests, such as Colorado potato and elm leaf beetles, various caterpillars, worms,(not earthworms), and other pests. I first found it about 20 years ago when I had every tomato hornworm in the country, it saved me. I use a liquid concentrate that I mix with water, but I also get it in granular form to put in my wife's birdbaths and anywhere we keep standing water, to kill mosquito larvae. It will not harm birds or pets

This message was edited Jun 14, 2005 5:11 PM

Thank you so very much Chilihead, I will try to find some on my shopping trip tomorrow. I appreciate you clearing that up for me, I never would have known, lol.

Sherry, the green worms spin the cocoons, they turn into moths that come back and lay more eggs on your plants so there will be even more green worms!

Sherrylike - if your Bayer 3 in 1 product is a systemic product with imidicloprid as the active ingredient (that's what I have listed in my guide for Bayer Advanced 2 in 1 plant spikes), it is great for aphids, soft scales, plant hoppers, sucking plant bugs, etc., but it won't do anything for caterpillars (they aren't affected by imidicloprid). The Bt is a much better bet.

Also check to see if your active ingredient is disulfoton. If it is, be careful around children and pets. That active ingredient can be a bit dangerous for them, and isn't always environmentally friendly. The acive ingredient should always be listed on the label on the back. There will be a long name (chemical name) and a common name such as imidicloprid, pyrethrin, etc.

Thanks, Susie, Chili & Night: I wrote down " BT,(Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis)," and took it with me, and called several nurseries and went to one nursery and not a single one had heard of it or had it. Maybe I didn't talk to the right person. Is there a brand name?? TIA!!!

Anyone here know what to use on a hibiscus that something ate the green part of the leafs and left the veins?? They are at my daughter's and we never saw the bug. Again, thanks to all!!!

SL, Try your local co-op or feed and seed store. One of the names BT is sold under is Thuricide. Sorry I couldn't give you any more info tonight. I just got off the tractor, and I'm hot and tired. Get back to you tomorrow. Also, on your hibiscus, look hard, I'll bet you have Japanese beetles. I hope I'm wrong.

This message was edited Jun 17, 2005 8:57 PM

Thanks, Chili, I located BT online, I cannot believe I had never heard of it. Maybe I did, and just thought it was a Bayer product. What do you grow on you farm??

A comment about the green cats...I've had them the past two years in my lilies. They enclose themselves in the top leaves and if I don't find them soon enough, will eat down into the emerging flower buds and completely consume this year's blooms. After they did considerable damage while I was away for a few days last year, I learned that daily checks are necessary. They haven't bothered daylilies, only the trumpet, Asiatic and oriental types. Anyway, I believe they are actually cabbage butterfly larvae, from eggs deposited on the lilies in the absence of better choices. I have been eliminating them by hand, rather than by spraying--just catching them (a trick sometimes, because they will wriggle away quickly and drop to the ground) and squishing them. Most are less than an inch long when I find them, and it's pretty amazing how much they can consume.

Yes, kneff, you describe exactly what I have!! They really are aggressive in their effort to get away, most cats I see here are not that active. I thought today that the damage to the tops of my brugs was due to earwigs, which I've never seen here. But, since reading your post, I now know that leaf rollers are the enemy of my brugs. They've done more damage in my seedlings that have not Yed or set buds, so maybe I can get back on track. I was gone two days and I was oh so disappointed when I returned home. Oh, well. I surely do thank your for your 'right on' description and mine matches yours exactly. I would buy the BT but I just hate sprays, so I guess I'll just stay home until frost so I can fight them, lol, but it looks like that is what it will take...I surely appreciate your post!!!!

YOu should see my roses from the durn things -- fortunatly they seem to really like the DR.Huey (a common rootstock for grafted roses) and it is blooming anyway but U spend part of evey day looking for the little ....... suckers.

Heather

My leaf rollers are definitely coming from my thornless blackberries, I've picked them off and there was only one and now I remember seeing the same thing in just about the same location last year. While checking all the plants, I found a strange very white bug that is almost flat and zooms when I touch him. Wonder what that is??i I also found lots of ladybugs, and several snake doctors on patrol, I'm happy to have at least some good bugs...