this is gross...black catepillars eating my cone flowers

what do i do to get rid of these? they are awful!!!

sms...wait....before you do away with them...can you post on the bf forum and find out what cats they are? Since they are feasting on a plant in the Aster family, they are probably a butterfly and maybe they can be moved to another host.

Wellll, this ol gal has lern't yet another lil dandy somethin' today ..

Duh, me!!
Cone flowers .. are in the Aster family! It says 'aster' in my book, as a food plant - but not explicitly 'cone flowers'. .. LOL ..

Reference > http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=3822579

- Magpye

will you come and get them for me?

If I lived closer Sticks...I would come and get them!

Just for info...
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1721

They will only be there a couple of weeks, maybe shorter. Do you have enough coneflower that they could have a couple? Birds will probably find most of the caterpillars.

chris

no but i have asters....should i take them to the asters?

Hey guys ..

I'd been sitting here in front of my PC for a spell, preparing a somewhat well-researched and rather lengthy reply .. with some breakdowns of the host plants of which several books stated and some other applicable web links - for the Silvery Checkerspot cats.

Only .. when I was ready to send, after my preview - the thing went bouncing to timbuckto-ever it is - and with ne'er a chance to retrieve any of it. Gonna hafta resort to using Word or Works again, I reckon.

Anyone know if master Dave may have implemented a time limit, of which we have to reply, when a particular thread is 'open' for so long? .. lol ..

I may get back to it a lil later on .. if my brain's not completely depleted of any trace usefullness, that is .. (hee)

- Magpye

Well, drat Magpye....try it again!

Sticks...go ahead and put them on the asters if you don't care if they eat them. They like Black-eyed Susans which are in the same family...Aster...so it may work. At least it may buy us some time until Magpye submits her thesis LOL

Kinda synonymous, 'ey .. flygirl? ..
{ Magpye / thesis }
.. LOL ..

Speaking of synonyms ..
^ That's ^ probably where my troubles started!

I'll splain later .. (heehee)

- Magpye

ok...will do...and black eyed susans in the same bed with the asters....thanks for your help!!!

Oh that's great...thanks sticks!!! Let us know if they make the switch okay.

Magpye..you lost me....take your time, I'm cleaning house.....I'll be here a while lol

In my somewhat dated Audubon Field Guide to North American Butterflies (1994), it states,

and
Seems, your powerfully hongry lil fellers may not know that they’re eating the wrong(?) coneflower (Echinacea) –and/or- that they’re not in the Rockies! (.. lol ..) But, then again .. I haint too sure of much of anything right about now, myself!

And in the Audubon Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders, it states .. “ that the caterpillar feeds on various members of the Aster family.” Ohhhhh, boy …

Coneflowers (Rudbeckia laciniata) .. > http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=Coneflower&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=Rudbeckia&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=laciniata&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Wingstem (Actinomeris alternifolia) .. I'll admit it; do have my xtra dense days .. but, I’ve not the first clue about any of it! > http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/66051/

Aster (Aster) .. > * this, is where the multitude of synonyms came into play .. I (think). Also, I may’ve learned another sumthin’ today - (don’t ask me what it is – jes yet)! Not EVEN sure if I ended up where I wanted to be, or where I should’ve been, or something to that effect! .. lol .. > http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=aster&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=Aster&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Sunflowers (Helianthus) > Seems there’s a whole mess of wide open possibilities to play with >
http://davesgarden.com/pf/b/Asteraceae/Helianthus/none/cultivar/0/

Crownbeard (Verbesina helianthoides) > http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/96833/

Crownbeard (V. virginica) > http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/62734/

You guys decipher it .. (heehee) .. For I think I’m gonna go sit outside a spell. Observe the progress on expanding our yardens, and see if more of the grass seed have sprouted. Ya know, the kinder, simpler things. Maybe later, I’ll scrutinize the current diversity of our investment portfolios. < Now, that’s simple! .. heehee ..

((huggs))

- Magpye

Good job Magpye!

All of those are in the Asteraceae family so they should be happy to eat any of them.
Hopefully it doesn't have to be certain species like the R. lanciniata, when sticks probably has R. hirta. We'll see!

Thanks for doing all the 'legwork' Magpye! I would have but had blinds to clean haha