In article
,
Wil wrote:

Green catapillars are eating my basil and lettuce leaves. I haven't
usd any pesticides. What are they and any suggestions? I'm in DC
zone 6 I believe. I lost the link to the zone chart.

I found one green cat eating the leaves of my basil a couple of days
ago and found one eating my lettuce leaves this morning. I took them
out and put them on weeds by the fence hoping they'll eat those. lol

Thanks,
Wil

Hmmm ...

I am no expert, I have found on occasion what I think is commonly called
a Cabbage Worm. http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/BugReview/cabbageworm.html
The one I found on my plants look just like the one in the link.

Like you I have never found many of them. In my tiny garden I have never
found more than ten of the big bugs in one season. I look for signs of
stripped stems. Then I start to look under the leaves of the plants
early in the morning or late at night. If I find one ... sorry no
offence ... I am not as kind to the bugs as you are, I toss the leaf the
the bug is on to the ground and smash the poor little green bug with the
heal of my right boot.

When I first saw one. I put the bug with a three foot stem with the
leaves in a five gallon bucket mesh cover. The next day all the leaves
were gone and half the stem gone. From one little bug!

If you were like me, just one bug here or there.
So I say in my unprofessional opinion -- Give the bug a boot!

If you have an infestation of the bugs, I do not know?

Enjoy Life ... Dan

--
Garden in Zone 5 South East Michigan.