Sunday 6 March 2016

Bright green caterpillars in March?

Anyone else having these little visitors?




Polyphemus moth caterpillar

 or is it
Caterpillars of the Cabbage Looper

2441 Siver Y (Autographa gamma) cabbage looper moth caterpillar © Steve Ogden
The caterpillars of the Silver Y, Autographa gamma and the similar Ni moth, Trichoplusia ni, cause extensive damage to vegetable crops worldwide

Everyday we find two or three in different parts of the garden, on over wintering veg or weeds, even in the compost bin. It has been -4C some times this last week so they are not getting killed off by the cold.

I have not been able to identify them, as my main concern is to get rid of them.  I've tried flicking them towards the blackbirds, but at this rate our blackbirds will be bigger than eagles!

Grr... always something wants to have your fruit and veg before you......

Meanwhile all the very tender seeds in the conservatory on the heated propagating mat have to be moved after tea as the men are coming to retrofit the conservatory window.  They are promising to do it without distrubing the roof or the half walls - I await with baited breath!

I have just taken up most of the old lino and found it was laid, extremely neatly, on brown paper potato sacks! I've seen newspaper under carpets but never paper potato sacks. They must have been there for some time as they had disintegrated in the damp areas and were very brittle where dry. Indentations of the uneven concrete floor  were stamped well into them where you stepped in and out of the doors. Even though I had gloves on within a short time my  dermatitis,  which reacts badly to concrete dust, flared up on my hands. I shall be glad to have this area renovated and cleaned.

Welcome to new follower - will do some exploring on your blog later!









4 comments:

  1. As you say there is always something wanting to eat your hard earned food.

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  2. More Lepidoptera over winter as caterpillars than any other life stage. They are adapted to do this so the cold won't kill them. We grow a percentage of our veg here to move insects on to and a percentage for us. They are part of the ecosystem of your garden and as such keep it working properly (soil provision, water, nutrient recycling etc) so if you can manage to set a portion of vegetation aside for them it'll be better for the rest of your crop in the long run.

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    Replies
    1. Plenty of wild areas around the edges - I shall take them for a walk beyond the veg beds!!!

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    2. Perfect :-) x

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