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Unfortunately, summer time is also caterpillar time. However, this plague is not limited to the summer months, as some caterpillars are already eating your plants in April.
In a nutshell
- Caterpillars in April prey on buds and young leaves
- natural enemies help with many caterpillars
- However, balding is the exception rather than the rule
Moth
Bramble Moth (Macrothylacia rubi)
- Caterpillar season: from August, after hibernation until April
- Size: up to 80 mm
- Color/Appearance: Black with yellow or orange segmental incisions, black and reddish brown hairs, light gray hairs on the sides
- Affected plants: Shrubs and herbaceous plants, such as sloe, raspberry, blackberry, yellow rockrose, winged broom, small meadow buffalo, clover, vetches, buckhorn
- Damage: leaf damage
- Fight: collect with gloves
Notice: The caterpillars are nocturnal. The stinging hairs can cause allergies and skin reactions (caterpillar hair dermatitis).
Owl moth (Noctuidae)
Sorrel owl caterpillar (Acronicta rumicis); Source: picture taken by Olaf Leillinger English: Please report references to [email protected]. German: Please send citation and proof to [email protected]., Acronicta.rumicis.7339, edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 2.5
- Caterpillar season: April to October
- Size: up to 60 mm
- Color / appearance: depending on the species, light (brown), black and white, green, e.g. T. with stinging hairs
- affected plants: herbaceous plants, deciduous trees, shrubs
- Damage: damage to root collars, damage to leaves
- Fighting: sugared bran porridge as bait, collecting, spraying with tansy tea, settlement of natural predators (e.g. caterpillar flies, parasitic wasps, common toads, blackbirds, hedgehogs, bats)
Notice: Most of the cutlet moth caterpillars hide during the day because they are active at dusk or at night.
Great Frost Moth (Erannis defoliaria)
- Caterpillar season: April to June
- Size: up to 25 mm
- Colour/appearance: brown-red, with sulphur-yellow and red-brown stripes on the belly
- Affected plants: preferably birch, beech, oak, hornbeam, linden, elm
- Damage: damage to fruit buds, damage to leaves
- Fight: green glue rings (end of September to December) to catch the females and take eggs, settlement of predators (parasitic wasps, caterpillar flies, spiders, ground beetles, songbirds, woodpeckers)
Notice: If the caterpillars feel disturbed, they lower themselves to the ground with a spider thread. When the danger is over, they climb up the thread again.
Lesser Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)
- Caterpillar season: March to June
- Size: up to 25 mm
- Colour/appearance: green, faint webs in buds and between young leaves
- affected plants: fruit and deciduous trees, including oak, beech, hornbeam, maple
- Damage: Feeding on buds and young leaves
- Fight: green glue rings (end of September to December) to catch the females and take the eggs, settlement of predators (parasitic wasps, caterpillar flies, spiders, songbirds)
Cinnamon bear (rust-winged bear, Phragmatobia fuliginosa)
- Caterpillar season: September to April
- Size: up to 35 mm
- Color/appearance: black-grey with dense tufts of reddish-brown or light-grey-brown hairs, light yellowish longitudinal stripes on the back
- affected plants: herbaceous plants and shrubs, such as blackberries, blackthorn, meadowsweet, dandelion, buckhorn, Jacob's goatskin
- Damage: Feeding on buds and young leaves
- Combat: hardly any predators (inedible), collect the caterpillars
Notice: The caterpillars of this butterfly are inedible even for birds.
butterflies
Box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis)
- Caterpillar season: March to September
- Size: up to 50 mm
- Color/Appearance: yellow-green to dark green with black and white stripes, black dots and head capsule, white bristles
- affected plants: boxwood
- Damage: bare grazing until the plants die
- Combat: Neme oil supplements. Settlement of predators (tits, redstarts, starlings, wasps)
Notice: The box tree moth is an invasive species, so you should burn heavily infested plants.
Big fox (Nymphalis polychloros)
- Caterpillar season: April
- Size: up to 45 mm
- Color/Appearance: Dark gray to black with orange bands on back and sides; orange, branched thorn outgrowths
- affected plants: willow, aspen, pear, cherry
- Damage: leaf damage
- Control: cut off infested branches and expose caterpillars to pasture or wild cherries in the wild (endangered butterfly species)
Notice: The caterpillars of this butterfly like to eat in social groups from April.
frequently asked Questions
How do glue rings help against butterflies?Glue rings help against winter moths, as the females climb up the tree trunk to lay their eggs. If they stick, they lay their eggs on the ring. It is therefore important that you remove the eggs before the larvae hatch.
Do I even have to fight the caterpillars in April?Whether you "have to" control caterpillars depends on the severity of the infestation. The temperature plays a subordinate role, as flight and oviposition are usually only delayed in cool temperatures.