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The year of the worm and the caterpillar

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Posted by plantingman 6b (SC KS climate) (samnsarah620@yahoo.com) on
Fri, May 11, 12 at 13:56

It seems like this has been a good year for caterpillars and worms. The first sign that we were going to have a problem was the enormous amount of moths and butterflies this spring. So, I was not too surprised when I found caterpillars on my hostas, which I have gotten under control.
Then I noticed a few days ago that my mums were beginning to look a little odd. Something was eating all of the fleshy green parts of the leaves and leaving large spaces on the leaves where there is just this thin grey, dry membrane. I turned a couple of the leaves over and noticed insect droppings and a few strands of what looked like webbing. I turned over a couple more and found this tiny little green worm. I sprayed the tops and bottoms of the leaves really well, and the worms began to drop like flies. Although I caught this problem in time, I have a feeling I am going to be battling these caterpillars for the rest of the spring and early summer.
Has anyone else been fighting to prevent caterpillars from eating their gardens?

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RE: The year of the worm and the caterpillar

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Actually, I think most of the caterpillars attacking gardens this year are from moths. There have been gobs of moths this year due to the undecayed leaf litter from a mild winter with very little snow.

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