Caterpillars - Plant Pest

Leaf miner damage on a tomato plant

Caterpillar

Natural Pest Control - Just Caterpillar Treatment Small - 12 sq m £13.99
Natural Pest Control - Just Caterpillar Treatment Large - 100 sq m £28.99

Signs - Leaves stripped, or eaten from the outside edge inwards. May not always be easily visible as they can be well camouflaged. "Frass" may be seen - tiny black balls of excrement (yes frass is a special word for caterpillar poo).

More cunning and smaller types "mine" leaves between the upper and lower surfaces.

Damage - Young leaves can be eaten away and more mature plants are left with unsightly holes.

Treatment

Leave them for the birds or pick off caterpillars by hand as soon as you see them. If you can't bring yourself to kill them, I move them from where they usually are on the young delicate succulent leaves at the top of the plant to the larger more mature leaves elsewhere. This however becomes a daily job as they climb back again!

For really heavy infestations consider using the biological control based on a naturally occurring bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, which stops the caterpillar feeding and only infects caterpillars.

Pyrethrum, Malathion and Derris can be used to deal with heavy infestations.
Elder spray. This kills aphids, small caterpillars and is useful as a fungicide for mildew and blackspot on roses. The toxic agent is hydro-cyanic acid, so in preparing the spray use an old saucepan.

Gather 450g (1 lb) leaves and young stems of elder prefer-ably in spring when the sap is rising. Place in the saucepan and add 3.3 litres (6pt) water. Boil for half an hour, topping up as necessary. Strain through old tights and use the liquid cold and undiluted. It will keep for three months if bottled tightly while still hot.

Reasons to like caterpillars

Refer to any small child of your acquaintance for a comprehensive answer.

They turn into butterflies and moths "flying flowers".

They provide loads and loads of food for small birds and plenty of larger animals further up the food chain too.

They have provided the inspiration for many cartoon and children's story book characters such as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and that great masterpiece "inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds...". Those fairground rounds for toddlers too - the ones that look like a big caterpillar curling up.

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