A Caterpillar Pests List and Gallery
There are hundreds of caterpillar species that can cause damage to your garden plants and trees. Below are just some of the caterpillars you may find in your gardens, depending on where you live.
Armyworm, army worm, Pseudaletia unipuncta—noctuid moth larvae that travel in multitudes destroying especially grass and grain
Beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua—moth larva that eats foliage of beets and vegetables
Bollworm—any of various moths that destroy cotton bolls
Cabbageworm, Pieris rapae—toxic green larva of a cabbage butterfly
Cankerworm—green caterpillar of a geometrid moth; pest of various fruit and shade trees
Corn borer, Pyrausta nubilalis—larva of the European corn borer moth; a serious pest of maize
Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda—larva of a migratory American noctuid moth; destroys grasses and small grains
Lappet—larva of a lappet moth webworm—several gregarious moth larvae that spin webs over foliage on which they feed
Silkworm, giant silkworm, wild silkworm—larva of a saturniid moth; spins a large amount of strong silk in constructing its cocoon
Tent—the larvae of moths that build communal silken webs in orchard and shade trees
Tobacco hornworm, tomato worm, Manduca sexta—large green white-striped hawkmoth larva that feeds on tobacco and related plants; similar to tomato hornworm
Tomato hornworm, potato worm, Manduca quinquemaculata—large green white-striped hawkmoth larva that feeds on tomato and potato plants; similar to tobacco hornworm silkworm—hairless, white of the Chinese silkworm moth; source of most commercial silk
Woolly bear, of numerous moths, characterized by a dense coat of hairs
Tussock—larva of a tussock moth
|
|
| Douglas-fir Tussock larvae, Photo from USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Region Archive, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org | Douglas-fir Tussock moth male (left) female (right), Photo from USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Region Archive, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org |
Measuring worm, Inchworm, Looper—small hairless caterpillar having legs on only its front and rear segments; mostly larvae of moths of the family Geometridae
|
|
| Geometrid moth larva, Photo from Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Archive, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Bugwood.org | Geometrid moth female, Photo from USDA Forest Service - Ogden Archive, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org |
Potato tuberworm, Phthorimaea operculella—larva of the potato moth; mines into leaves and stems of potatoes and tobacco
|
|
| Cabbage looper larva, Photo from Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series, Bugwood.org | Cabbage looper, Photo from Joseph Berger, Bugwood.org |
Cutworm—North American moth whose larvae feed on young plant stems, cutting them off at the ground
|
|
| Cutworm larva, Photo from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Slide Set, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Bugwood.org | Cutworm larva and adult graphic, Art Cushman, USDA; Property of the Smithsonian Institution, Department of Entomology, Bugwood.org |
Photos courtesy of Bugwood.org.
If this page was valuable for you, please share your new knowledge. Click Like...
