Tag: caterpillar
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BadCritter: White Cabbage Butterfly
Oh but I hate these beautiful little butterflies. They are particularly active in spring and early summer. I don’t see them in January and February in Perth and suspect it is just too hot.
I squish them and their caterpillars, turning them back into the soil.
Species:
Identification:
Adult:
Eggs:
Caterpillar:
Damage:
They will munch your greens leaving the tell tale holes you see above. The caterpillars are hard to spot as you can see.
Control:
I usually spray my chili plants and greens with Dipel and pyrethrum (my go to natural insecticide spray) if I notice any damage. I found the first time I used Dipel was amazing. I didn’t think the caterpillars were doing that much harm to the plant but the returning plant vigor proved that wrong.
Ben swears by the use of butterfly shaped cardboard cutouts and I use egg shells. Both methods are thought to make the laying females move along to another patch.
More Resources:
- See more BadCritters here
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BadCritters: Tiger Moth Caterpillar
The caterpillar of this BadCritter will munch your salad greens just as happily as your non-edibles. Their hairy bodies have given them the nickname ‘woolly bears’.
I picked the caterpillar below of my snow pea plants and after its photo shoot it got dispatched 🙂 .
Bit of a shame as they are amazing to watch and the moth is attractive too.
Species: Ardices glatignyi
Identification:
Damage:
The caterpillars are voracious munchers of many trees, shrubs and vegetables found in the home garden.
Control:
Visual inspection of the top and bottom of leaves and removing any caterpillars is generally sufficient. You can buy traps and insecticides but I have never needed to use them.
More Resources:
- Check out this great resource http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/arct/glatig.html
- See more BadCritters here
Youtube:
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