Do you support Caterpillars?

[Jewels19]

I did a happy dance when my milkweed came up - I am hoping to get some monarchs (caterpillar and butterflies) this year. I love butterflies of every kind, though, and unless they are tent caterpillars (I HATE those), I let them do their thing.

ETA: My avatar is a caterpillar I found while walking in the woods. I don't know what kind he is.

That's not a very nice caterpillar, it's one of the tent caterpillars, the kind that makes those messy webby nests in trees and eats all of the leaves. Eastern Tent Caterpillar is my guess.

I was thinking the same...I looked it up and seen many similar Characteristics..I just wasn't sure..I remember these as a child and always destroying their nest..lol

 

[GrowinVeggiesInSC]

I did a happy dance when my milkweed came up - I am hoping to get some monarchs (caterpillar and butterflies) this year. I love butterflies of every kind, though, and unless they are tent caterpillars (I HATE those), I let them do their thing.

ETA: My avatar is a caterpillar I found while walking in the woods. I don't know what kind he is.

That's not a very nice caterpillar, it's one of the tent caterpillars, the kind that makes those messy webby nests in trees and eats all of the leaves. Eastern Tent Caterpillar is my guess.

Reinbeau and Jewels, I don't think it's a tent caterpillar. We have tent caterpillars in our pecan trees every year, and they look totally different.
Here are some better pictures of "my" caterpillar - he is black and white with a little yellow, and not fuzzy. Compare to Eastern Tent Caterpillar here: http://www.pestproducts.com/images/eastern-tent-caterpillar.jpg


Here's my little guy:

 

[Jewels19]

I did a happy dance when my milkweed came up - I am hoping to get some monarchs (caterpillar and butterflies) this year. I love butterflies of every kind, though, and unless they are tent caterpillars (I HATE those), I let them do their thing.

ETA: My avatar is a caterpillar I found while walking in the woods. I don't know what kind he is.

That's not a very nice caterpillar, it's one of the tent caterpillars, the kind that makes those messy webby nests in trees and eats all of the leaves. Eastern Tent Caterpillar is my guess.

Reinbeau and Jewels, I don't think it's a tent caterpillar. We have tent caterpillars in our pecan trees every year, and they look totally different.
Here are some better pictures of "my" caterpillar - he is black and white with a little yellow, and not fuzzy. Compare to Eastern Tent Caterpillar here: http://www.pestproducts.com/images/eastern-tent-caterpillar.jpg


Here's my little guy:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t213/svenjaxeller/garden stuff/DSC03082.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t213/svenjaxeller/garden stuff/DSC03080.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t213/svenjaxeller/garden stuff/DSC03081.jpg

Whatever he is, he's SOOOO cute!! Do you have him now? Your right, the tent caterpillars are a bit fuzzy..Hmmm

 

[Reinbeau]

Much better photo, and no, it isn't an Eastern Tent Caterpillar. Somewhere around here I've got a really good caterpillar ID book but I can't find it - I'll look harder!

 

[momofdrew]

I did a happy dance when my milkweed came up - I am hoping to get some monarchs (caterpillar and butterflies) this year. I love butterflies of every kind, though, and unless they are tent caterpillars (I HATE those), I let them do their thing.

ETA: My avatar is a caterpillar I found while walking in the woods. I don't know what kind he is.

That's not a very nice caterpillar, it's one of the tent caterpillars, the kind that makes those messy webby nests in trees and eats all of the leaves. Eastern Tent Caterpillar is my guess.

Reinbeau and Jewels, I don't think it's a tent caterpillar. We have tent caterpillars in our pecan trees every year, and they look totally different.
Here are some better pictures of "my" caterpillar - he is black and white with a little yellow, and not fuzzy. Compare to Eastern Tent Caterpillar here: http://www.pestproducts.com/images/eastern-tent-caterpillar.jpg


Here's my little guy:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t213/svenjaxeller/garden stuff/DSC03082.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t213/svenjaxeller/garden stuff/DSC03080.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t213/svenjaxeller/garden stuff/DSC03081.jpg

where did you find him? what does he eat? sometimes that will help with identifing the caterpiller...he is a pretty one

 

[GrowinVeggiesInSC]

I found him near Santee, South Carolina. That's in the Coastal Plain region. I actually found him on the edge of a Carolina Bay. If you've never heard of a Carolina Bay, you must click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Bay - they are absolutely amazing. I went to one as part of a Women's Outdoor Retreat. It was my second time in a Cariolina Bay, and both times the flora and fauna were stunning.
I found this little guy wandering on the ground. I'm trying to think of what kind of plants were around - there were so many!!! It was mainly loblolly pine with lots of greenbriar, sassafrass, flowering spurge, native honeysuckle, wax myrtle, lots of poison ivy hmmmmmm... can't remember what else.
I didn't take him home, I left him in his habitat. :happy_flower
Reinbeau, if you find your book, let me know what the title is, I have been meaning to buy a good one.

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

Some years ago I planted dill, not knowing swallowtail caterpillars eat it. We were able to watch 3 or 4 caterpillars transform, very cool!!

 

[Debby]

Reinbeau,

I looked in Caterpillers of Eastern North America. Could it be a Turbulent phosphila?

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...hila&hl=en&rlz=1T4GPTB_enUS289US291&sa=N&um=1

Debby

 

[Debby]

From this map of the recorded occurance, it looks like you could add to the known range of the species!

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...hila&hl=en&rlz=1T4GPTB_enUS289US291&sa=X&um=1

It looks like the adult is a non-discript little brown moth, although I can't find a picture on the web right now. I'm amazed at how many beautiful and varied caterpillers turn out to be a non-descript little brown moths. The caterpiller is often prettier than the adult stage. It makes me put all the little brown moths outside even more than I did before!

Debby