Kinds of Caterpillars Custom Search 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. Tussock — larva of a tussock moth
Cankerworm — green caterpillar of a geometrid moth; pest of various fruit and shade trees Measuring worm, Inchworm, Looper — small hairless caterpillar having legs on only its front and rear segments; mostly larvae of moths of the family Geometridae
Potato tuberworm, Phthorimaea operculella — larva of the potato moth; mines into leaves and stems of potatoes and tobacco
Cutworm — North American moth whose larvae feed on young plant stems cutting them off at the ground
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 Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda — larva of a migratory American noctuid moth; destroys grasses and small grains 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 Silkworm, giant silkworm, wild wilkworm — 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 Lappet — larva of a lappet moth webworm — several gregarious moth larvae that spin webs over foliage on which they feed Corn borer, Pyrausta nubilalis — larva of the European corn borer moth; a serious pest of maize Bollworm — any of various moths that destroy cotton bolls Cabbageworm, Pieris rapae — toxic green larva of a cabbage butterfly Woolly bear, of numerous moths, characterized by a dense coat of woolly hairs; feeds on plants From Caterpillar to Organic Gardening Glossary |
