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whenpiggsfly

What's eating my MILKWEED??

whenpiggsfly
10 years ago

No, it's not a Monarch caterpillar.

It's a light green caterpillar that's wrapped in a web. They're everywhere! And they've decimated my milkweed -almost nothing left to feed the Monarchs

Comments (29)

  • hawaiiponder34
    10 years ago

    Aphids?

  • whenpiggsfly
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No, It's a light green caterpillar that's wrapped in a web - 100x the size of an aphid

  • Leafhead
    10 years ago

    It's a moth larva of some type. Moths can usually feed on many food sources, including Milkweed. Just move them far away and they'll find something else to munch on.

  • colmoguez
    10 years ago

    I am new to milkweed. I planted several plants this summer. The flowers and leaves were beautiful and I had one caterpiller. As the summer went on into August, red beetles showed up and ate every leaf on my plants! The caterpillar disappeared. All I have left of my plants are long spindly stems.I have no leaves on my milkweed plants. I've researched and read that the red bugs are okay. Are they really?? Should I cut back the plants? Where do I go from here? Help!

  • linda_tx8
    10 years ago

    Probably not what you have, but just in case...these can, if there's enough of them, strip and even sometimes kill a milkweed plant.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Swamp Milkweed Beetle

  • whenpiggsfly
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No, that's not what I've seen on mine. But isn't it amazing the number of critters who feast on the poor milkweed!

  • docmom_gw
    10 years ago

    There is also a tussock moth that I saw completely strip a milkweed plant this summer. All that was left was a single stalk that was literally engulfed by a solid layer of thick fuzz that was about one hundred moth cats. Apparently they don't travel to find another plant, because there were nearby plants that were untouched.

    Martha

  • ccsejtey
    8 years ago

    I have read many comments about what's eating my milkweed. It's not just the leaves. The entire plant is eaten to the ground. Help

  • vitrsna
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Gee whiz...the only problem i've had with the milkweed has been those chubby yellow aphids, but it is clear there are other MW predators that i am not familiar with.

    ccsejtey...is it possible for you to take a photo of your pest and get it identified? What i've noticed on this thread is a complete lack of photo documentation which makes it very difficult to identify the problems. Once you know what your plant predator is, it will be easier to find a way to eliminate them without using products that will kill your butterflies and caterpillar. After 7 years of butterfly gardening, i have found the most effective way to get rid of unwanted destroyers is to hand squish them. I'm not sure using a hose to wash them off is that effective. I've tried it with aphids but noticed that it doesn't necessarily kill them and they come right back. I squish them, bare-handed, and they don't come back. But really to know how to get rid of something one first has to know what that something(s) is(are). First step.

  • vitrsna
    8 years ago

    P.S. You don't want to hand squish tussock moth larva though...they sting.


  • vitrsna
    8 years ago

    Also ccsejtey it really helps people to know what zone and area you live in. This information can give people in like zones and areas clues as to what your problem might be...along with a photo if possible :-)


  • Theresa Smith
    6 years ago

    I planted 4 swamp milkweed plants two weeks ago along with many other plants that are appealing to butterflies and hummingbirds. Just last night something snipped two of the stems of one milkweed plant right off at the ground leaving them lying beside the plant. The plant was not eaten at all. Could this be rabbits or snails? It was a clean cut. I'm frustrated! I'm trying to grow plants for the monarch butterflies. Help!

  • KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
    6 years ago

    At my first house, something cut down many of my common milkweeds at the base. All I have are theories.

  • Ally Copenhaver
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Today I found these orangeish/ brownish caterpillars all over my milkweed. The have tiny black dots and they are completely smooth. They also seem to be spinning webs. There are hundreds of them and they're completely stripping the leaves off the plants. I live In the piedmont region of North Carolina and I've never noticed them before. I thought that they might be sod webworms but I don't think those eat milkweed. I would seriously appreciate input if anyone has an idea about what they could be.

  • macranthos
    6 years ago

    Thanks for bringing this post back up. I just noticed one of the milkweed tussock moth larvae on my Asclepias fascicularis and I hadn't a clue what it was!

  • Ally Copenhaver
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Macranthos, when I was reasearching and trying to figure out what kind of caterpillars mine were, the tussok moth larvae did come up a lot. I also saw a lot of caterpillars that looked very similar to the ones I have except for the fact that they were covered in hair and mine have no hair. I've looked in 3 separate insect identification books and searched all over the web bust still can't seem to find anything.

  • terrene
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    It's been a mixed year for the milkweed. The common milkweed is pretty good, but something nipped most of my swamp milkweed at the base this Spring. Some kind of insect? So I bought a couple of Asclepias incarnata 'Ice Ballet' at the nursery which are doing okay.

    I think voles got to the roots of the oldest Asclepias tuberosa plants over the winter so I started a dozen or so seedlings some of which have been munched by slugs. Slugs love milkweed seedlings and we've had a wet spring and summer.

    Asclepias seems to attract a plethora of insects, predator and prey alike.

    Nevertheless I'm psyched because I saw my first Monarch for the year yesterday, and today a Monarch female was laying eggs on the Ice ballet and the common milkweed in the front garden. I collected 10 eggs to raise so Monarch season has begun!

  • Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
    6 years ago

    Ally,

    i looked through my caterpillar book and didn't see anything that matches yours either. So here is a sad faced critter on my milkweed to cheer you up. I know it's frustrating not to be able to figure things out.

  • KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
    6 years ago

    No such thing as a milkweed tussock. They are milkweed tigers since they are in the tiger moth subfamily Arctiinae. Tussocks are in the subfamily Lymantriinae.


    Ally,

    My guess is if you grab one and count the prolegs, you will find six pairs because I think they are sawfly larvae.

    Iris,

    I cannot tell what you have from that picture but a ladybug pupa would be my first guess.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    6 years ago

    Ally's caterpillars look like the early instar milkweed tussock cats. They change dramatically as they grow and frequently shed their exoskeleton.

    Iris, I'm not at all sure about yours. Doesn't appear to be a beetle pupa, not even that of a Milkweed Beetle. Does it move, hop, fly? Seems like I see back leg.

  • KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    rhizo,

    Euchaetes egle cats have hairs right out of the gate. Ally said her larvae are "completely smooth." Also, the coloration is wrong and they appear to be too large for 1st or 2nd instars that don't have the more famous look.

    And upon further review, I will concur that Iris does not have a ladybug pupa. The dark vertical line would not be on the pupa.

    Ally,
    Sod webworm is a catch-all name for a number of moth caterpillars that eat our lawns. Cats top out at about 1/2 inch. Your larvae appear to be bigger than that but a pic next to a dime would help size them. Counting the prolegs or a closeup side picture that shows the legs would help. Also take a peek at this page and see what you think:
    http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=4936

  • Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
    6 years ago

    Thank you rhizo and KC Clark. It wasn't my intention to be rude and barge in here for an identification. This critter is on my ever growing list of things to identify (why on Earth a redbellied water snake would hang out in front of my garage I will never know), but the behavior reminds me of the hoverfly larvae you guys recently helped me identify. Which means pretty much not doing much of anything that I can see.

  • Ally Copenhaver
    6 years ago

    Rhizo_1 do you have a picture of the early Instar? I'm having touble finding it online.

    KC Clark unfortunately, the milkweed plant (along with the larvae) was uprooted by the gardener. I did do some research on sawfly larvae but I don't think that's what I have. I did however, look at the link you posted about the dogbane saicrobotys moth and I'm pretty positive that that's my critter!


    Thanks so much to everyone for your help!

  • KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
    6 years ago

    Ally,
    The moth gods smiled on me and provided me milkweed tigers. Since you wanted early instar pics, I can now handle that. This pic gives you an idea of how big they are right now.


  • KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
    6 years ago

    And this pic shows you 2nd instar pillars alongside their 1st instar exuviae.


  • Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
    6 years ago

    Thanks to this I was quickly able to identify the dozens and dozens of caterpillars I have. Question is: are they picky or can I move them from common milkweed to other kinds? Most of this is really ratty looking and some of the good looking new sprouts are occupied by Monarchs. I put a pot of giant and a little pot of tropical right next to them. The only stuff I have in pots to try if they would eat it voluntarily. They wandered onto the giant, but not eating yet. Pictures of one on the ratty stuff and of one of the groups moving. Sorry for that quality, the sun is going down.

  • lgteacher
    6 years ago

    I have two types of milkweed, tropical and narrow-leaf. I found that when I moved caterpillars from one to the other, they would crawl back to the plant they started with. Of course, there were a few odd ones that ended up on pentas or coreopsis, which I moved to milkweed. Those were monarch caterpillars. It may be different for different caterpillars. You can try and see what happens. That's half the fun.

  • Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
    6 years ago

    They ate the tropical completely overnight, but that wasn't big to begin with. They are eating the tougher giant one now. This is a big plant, so hopefully will last a while. Otherwise I can just take them pot and all to one of my flowerbeds that has at least 10 plants not currently occupied by Monarch eggs or caterpillars.

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