Polka Dot Wasp Moth, Oleander Moth

This little bugger is my nemesis. The adult is a beautiful insect, but the larva can ruin your day/week/year. These buggers will strip a Mandevilla bare in 1 to 2 days.

The eggs are laid on the underside of new leaf growths. The other day I found 1 large caterpillar on my Mandevilla. I removed him with pliars (dont touch, they sting) and dispatched him with my shoe. Then looked very closely over the plant. I saw no evidence of eggs or other large caterpillars, but I did see what appeared to be aphids the same color as the caterpillar that were stationary and seemed to have a feeding tube stuck into the plant. I dont know if those were just hatchlings or if they were aphids. I broke off the branch and sprayed them with Bacillus thuringiensis spray and bagged them and ... read moretossed them into the trash. I have to look closely at them every day just to stay on top of these voracious eaters.

Last year the caterpillar also defoliated my beautiful scarlet mandevila, all my dessert rose plants as well as my Oleander. Even though all my plants returned this year, it apparently can weaken the plants and can leave them susceptible to other problems. I've seen the polka dot moth but thought a white moth which I found numerous times inside the mandevila bloom was the culprit.
My research shows that a biological spray, BT (Dipel or Thuricide) will work. I will try BT and report back with my results. Here is a link to what I found: [HYPERLINK@trec.ifas.ufl.edu]

I love the beauty of these moths and find they are very attracted to white impatiens, so I planted some just to get more of them in my garden and it worked.