Myth 1: Caterpillers Eat Plants

A well-designed garden with native plants can provide a habitat that supports caterpillars and butterflies. It is important to know which plants are favored by the butterfly species in your region and also to include “host” plants, where butterflies lay their eggs and which they then eat once they have hatched into caterpillars.

Spicebush swallowtails, for example, lay their eggs on spicebush and the emerging caterpillars eat that plant voraciously. Monarchs use milkweed and the black swallowtails love fennel, among other host plants.

Sadly, these host plants are disappearing, so it is important to plant them in your landscape. Native trees like willow, birch and oak are great for this purpose. You can also attract caterpillars to your garden by planting native grasses and wildflowers that are often considered weeds, such as bramble, docks, nettles and bedstraws. Some cultivated plants that are closely related to native plants may also be suitable for caterpillars, such as mulleins (Verbascum) and yarrows.

Myth 2: Caterpillers Eat Trees

https://peaksfabrications.com/aftermarket-caterpillar-parts-debunking-misconceptions.html While the eerie sight of caterpillars draping themselves from trees in silken tents can look like the latest ecological disaster, it isn’t. These aren’t gypsy moths or forest tent caterpillars, which can defoliate entire forests and lead to tree death. Instead, these are fall webworms.

They feed as a colony on oak, poplar and willow. Newly hatched larvae build a white, silky tent that attaches wood-to-wood, where branches come together in the crotch of the tree. They live inside this tent when not feeding. Control: Insecticidal soap or bacillus thuringiensis, a natural soil bacterium, can be sprayed on caterpillars.

For most of the growing season, leaf-eating caterpillars are only a nuisance or an eyesore. If the damage is significant, however, a spray of carbaryl (Sevin), diazinon or malathion can be used. Or, the caterpillars can be removed by hand or squashed. The best thing to do is keep an eye out for ragged holes in leaves near the veins, which indicate caterpillar activity.

Myth 4: Caterpillers Eat Animals

While plants may exhibit sensory responses, including those seen in the Arabidopsis study mentioned above, these do not equate to feelings of pain or suffering like that experienced by animals or humans. Plants are capable of reacting mechanically, such as moving toward light to stimulate photosynthesis or releasing chemicals to defend themselves from threats.

Moth eggs are laid on a variety of surfaces, and the caterpillars feed on a wide range of plants as they grow and shed their skin. After reaching maturity, they form a cocoon and pupate.

Many myths about caterpillars are based on their coloring and color bands, such as the claim that the length of each band determines the severity of the winter. But science has shown this is not true. In fact, the color bands on caterpillars do not correlate with the seasons at all. In reality, the color bands are an evolutionary trait that has nothing to do with winter conditions.