I'm in south central Pennsylvania. This is my first year growing monarda, and
the flowers are exploding with caterpillars for the last 2 weeks, and I have
been dutifully plucking each one that I can find out and tossing it into the
yard, when it hit me.....what kind of caterpillars are these, and is there good
reason for me to leave them to their meal?
I know many native perennials are important host species for many butterflies,
and I have no clue if these are even butterfly or moth larvae. The largest is
1/2" at this stage, and they are whitish creamish tan in color. They seem to
have a few rows of tiny raised black dots appearing on their backs which extend
from head to rear. Others don't have this pattern. There are webby formations
on each of the flower heads, and the caterpillars are really chowing down,
eating all of the petals they can.
Even if you can't tell at this stage what these guys are, does anyone have a
good reference (book or web address) for figuring out what kind of caterpillars
I've got here, and whether I should let them remain. What makes a caterpillar
desirable, and is it common to have your host plants devastated as the larvae
grow up?
Thanks much.
Liz