Many different kinds ofcaterpillarsare black with snowy and red grading on their bodies . Most fatal , white and red caterpillars come from the many families of moth and do little serious destruction . They are not look at garden pests . However , one caterpillar , the azalea caterpillar ( Datana major ) , is a different creature , indeed . It , too , is a moth larvae , but unlike its saintly cousins , induce considerable damage to plants throughout the southeast United States .
Description
Female moths emerge in late spring and lay 80 to 100 eggs on the undersides of nutrient plant farewell . The caterpillars that emerge are some 3/8 - in long , with a yellow body with seven red longitudinal stripes . They eat in groups and can defoliate a industrial plant in no time . As the tiny Caterpillar grow , they take on their trademark colors . A mature cat is two inch long , with a black body covered in confused yellow or lily-white streak and a hopeful violent head and legs .
Preferred Plants and Damage
Although they are recognize as azalea caterpillars , Datana major will merrily crunch a variety of plant . Anything in the Rhododendron family is at particular risk of infection . These caterpillars have been see in significant number on blueberries , red oak , andromeda and apples . An infestation of azalea caterpillar solution in leaves that are heavily skeletonized . Eventually , the touched leaf dry out up and drop off the plant .
Control
Several methods of control condition exist . A small plague is broadly speaking handled by hand - picking the caterpillars and destroy them before they can ripen and lie more eggs . orotund infestations are treated with biological method or insecticide . B thuringiensis is a bacterial pathogen that dissemble a extensive range of larval dirt ball , including azalea caterpillar . It is broadly speaking good for humans , pets and plants . insecticide such as carbaryl , cyfluthrin or spinosad are used when a orotund , visible universe of azalea Caterpillar are present , though the use of insecticides can melt off the number of beneficial insects in your garden .
Similar Catepillars
There are many other black cat with white and red stripes . If you do not observe the caterpillar in question doing significant price , you may have one of the benign caterpillars instead . The caterpillars of the echo moth ( Seirarctia replication ) , arge moth ( Grammia arge ) , spurge hawkmoth ( Hyles euphorbiae ) and camphorweed cucullia ( Cucullia alfarata ) meet a similar verbal description . These caterpillars are not experience to be serious garden blighter , however .
References
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