Tiny black caterpillars

Annie Kate

When I sit outside, tiny black caterpillars, about 3/8" or 5mm long crawl up me. I don't recall experiencing this before.

Would this be the start of an infestation? And what natural thing could I do to get rid of them and to protect our fruit trees and our garden?

LaurieLovesLearning

@Annie Kate Do you have a detailed picture of one? What plant/structure are they on/close to? Is there any tent web close by? We could possibly figure it out with a little more information.

Annie Kate

Thanks @LaurieLovesLearning. Unfortunately, I can't take clear pictures that small (they are super-tiny and look like thick threads, a wee bit fuzzy, and ink black), but here is the best I can do. This is on the back edge of a plastic lawnchair.

They are on the lawn, the deck, lawnchairs. They don't look like tent caterpillars and I haven't seen any webs. When I sit outside for a few minutes, I have half a dozen on me, all climbing up.

Monek Marie

They look like Gypsy Moths.If they have very small reddish almost dots they probably are.

https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/insects-arachnids/nuisance-moths/gypsy-moths

Annie Kate

They are so tiny all we can see is black. I suppose we need to wait a few days and see what happens. Nervewracking!

Monek Marie

@Annie Kate If they are gypsy moths you need to get rid of them as soon as possible. They can strip trees in no time at all.

Gypsy moth go up during the day and down at night. People here will tie a material strip around the tree and the caterpillars get caught in that and you shake the cloth out to get rid of them.

Annie Kate

@Denise Grant, you are right, gypsy moths. Thank you for the advice.

jowitt.europe

@Denise Grant @Annie Kate would they have some natural enemies: some birds or wasps that would eat them. There are also many insects who are called gardeners’ friends. One could make an insect hotel. They are very popular here. I always prefer natural ways of getting rid, if necessary. And they might be a delicious food to some other species

Annie Kate

No @jolanta.wittib and @Denise Grant, apparently it's over the whole area and it's the worst outbreak since the 80s.

Goodbye leaves! We will try to protect our orchard and conifers at least. I could cry.

Monek Marie

We have had them so bad in the past that they would strip the leaves off the trees two times in a summer. Some of the trees died because of this.

I use the burlap with a lot of success and them will fed them to chickens but make sure they cannot get away

@Annie Kate I feel your pain. I have been there and watched the total devestation they cause.

Annie Kate

@Denise Grant , thank you for getting it.

I have ordered burlap from two stores but as we are in lockdown I have to wait until they are ready for pick up, and other people have the same idea. In the mean time, I'm using duct tape, sticky side out as a ring around each tree to trap them. When we ran out of that (and it, too is on order from two stores, sigh) we started using packing tape.

And we no longer have chickens; there was a massive shortage this spring so we couldn't restart our flock.

karenjanicki

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/897095#Comment_897095

Oh no! I'm so sorry :,(

LaurieLovesLearning

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/897111#Comment_897111

Stripping leaves 2 times in a summer kills trees. I hope @Annie Kate that your trees only have to experience the stripping only once.

I know one year, 2001/02, when the blankets of tent caterpillars marched through here that they killed off many trees. We heard that from an airplane, you could easily watch their advance.

Annie Kate

Oh dear, @LaurieLovesLearning, that sounds bad! Hopefully this won't be as bad.

Thank you @karenjanicki

tilathehunn

Could you feed them to turtles...or fish? Also if you need tape, i will mail it to you! What a nightmare!

tilathehunn

Why is the gypsy moth a problem?

This moth is a significant pest because the caterpillars have voracious appetites for more than 300 species of trees and shrubs, posing a danger to North America's forests. The caterpillars defoliate trees, leaving trees vulnerable to diseases and other pests and can eventually kill the tree.

data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAMAAAAoLQ9TAAAAolBMVEX////X1+QAAFqHh62vr8gAAGUWFnGPjrWYmLhiYpcAAGoaGnOSkrQpKnmnp8M+PoFzdKAMDXNUVJI1NXwAAGBtbZ9CQoJvb51aWpIAAE3t7fT39/qAgKr2/vTw9vAATgAAYgAAZgAhcyIxejE9gT1Ki0xsoG2dwJ7X59iOsI7m8ufG2ce5zrlfkmBPiVB8pH2pxaoAWgAAXAAAWAAAZAAScBX9BiDiAAAAtElEQVR4AUWOA2IEQRAAqze2ncza1v+/kUfEztl3NWhDkBlDTaS/Jt8ae3u7E9Y36O7RQzj72xmHP/qn0vtb3xHuTm+PL+6RnfWtna3LNeBBPTw8sESULHkM5L8HURTESRKRpGbmB6B0O0+iOLXDgCjxFIxv4RVKjTPKygSICxX5dl0ZpmmkrKOGbGyJ9oww3gmgLRtzhmGDBp88M+N0YyaTeprS1AlzYrNqmqoNWFHYdjHTRvtyIt52MBwnAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC

https://www.aphis.usda.gov › hp-egm

European Gypsy Moth - USDA APHIS

Omg!

tilathehunn

Why is the gypsy moth a problem?

This moth is a significant pest because the caterpillars have voracious appetites for more than 300 species of trees and shrubs, posing a danger to North America's forests. The caterpillars defoliate trees, leaving trees vulnerable to diseases and other pests and can eventually kill the tree.

data:image/png;base64,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

https://www.aphis.usda.gov › hp-egm

European Gypsy Moth - USDA APHIS

Annie Kate

Thank you @tilathehunn . I did get tape in and will be ordering some more. It takes us about 1.5 rolls of duck tape to do our yard, but it seems to catch quite a few caterpillars. And it needs to be replaced regularly, so that is enough to keep us out of mischief.

Also, they seem to lay their eggs on dead wood, in dark spots. We have firewood drying in rows, which is apparently a great spot for moths to lay their eggs.