These just showed up by the hundreds eating everything. What to do or not to do.

Try my favorite: Azamax. Gene

They look like butterfly caterpillars to me! Please don't kill them.

@mellielong ??

I would identify them before killing them.

Are they really eating EVERYTHING??

I agree, try to identify them first. Just because they enroach on what we believe to be "ours" is no reason to kill them.

Kind of looks like a Monarch.

Look like Black Swallowtails. Are they eating dill, fennel, rue, or parsley? If so, you've got butterflies! Oh no! My advice is to go to the grocery store, buy some of those Gladware thingies, get some organic parsley to feed them, raise them indoors, and watch them become butterflies! I am biased, however.

Also, people should really identify what they have before resorting to pesticides. Thanks for inquiring about what they were before acting.

@mellielong,I'm so glad to see this thread. Too many times people will jump and grab the insecticide, or kill them all without knowing what they are. It's so nice to know that there are knowledgeable people here willing to help and share.

Looks to me like they've been dining on a passionvine or something else with those curly tendrils. But I agree they look a lot like Black Swallowtails to me.

Cool! We don't want to kill them if they're good! They've decimated this vine that looks like some kind of grape (never bore fruit or flowers and now I can't show you a photo since they ate it all) and they are eating some pepper vines (not bell pepper plants) too but not as aggressively yet. They are hanging out on these elephant ear plants but not eating them. Hasn't touched anything in the garden or the milk weed we have. They do seem to be leaving thin silk lines behind them but not actually making any webs Thank you all for the feedback, it is so appreciated.

Are we certain of the ID? Could it be the grapeleaf skeletonizer:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

Hard to tell from the current picture, Sue. You might be on to something there.

They do look like black swallowtails. I was surprised to see them in those numbers and on something that looks like a grape.

You must be doing something right!

Daisy

I think Sue is on the right path. If it was grape vine, then it's not the Swallowtail. I've only seen the Grape Skeletonizer cats when they were nearly full grown. It's eerie how similar the smaller ones are, though!

Just adding more pics

I vote NO on Swallowtail

Yes on Grapeleaf Skelletonizer

Yeah, now that you can see the little tufts of hair, they're definitely not Swallowtails which are smooth. Plus, the biggest indicator I use to identify a caterpillar is what they're eating. They turn into a cool moth - kind of a wasp mimic. Ooh, and they eat Virginia Creeper, too. I have tons of that stuff and no one ever eats it. Anyway, here's all you want to know about the Grape Leaf Skeltonizer (love the name) from the folks at UF: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/crea...

Oh man, do I ever want some of those! They can eat their little hearts out on my Virginia Creeper. I'll happily cheer them on!
Who ever decided to name it creeper anyway? More like Virginia Runner!

A friend of mine calls it Virginia Takeover which I think is even more fitting sometimes. Every summer I spend days extracting bushels of it from my hedge and border.

How can y'all even touch Virginia creeper? I knew poison ivy had 3 leaves so why is this 5 leaves vine breaking me out and making me itch? I run for the water to scrub it off if I even think I've touched it.
Thanks to these wonderful forums, I am trying to plant host plants for the butterflies. Last year I only had bronze fennel, but this year I went nuts and bought paw paw trees, milkweed, cherry trees, passion vine, and white Dutchman's Pipe seeds. I hope to have a caterpillar and butterfly paradise.