FLORIDA LAWN PESTS
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Caterpillars
Family tortricidae |
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Appearance:
Caterpillars come in many sizes and colors depending on the species. Most have tubular, segmented bodies and up to eight pairs of legs. Many have dull or bright colors with unusual looking patterns, and often have an upside-down y shape on the front of their head.
Behavior:
A caterpillar is the larval stage of butterflies and moths. The caterpillar hatches from a tiny egg and will eventually pupate and turn into an adult butterfly or moth. This larval stage usually lasts from two weeks to about a month.
Caterpillars have soft bodies that can grow rapidly, like balloons, and have a hard head capsule.The have sharp, tough mandibles for chewing leaves. They eat leaves voraciously and have a very fast growth rate. They are primarily herbivores, though a few feed on |
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detritus. Of those that are predatory, most feed on insect eggs, aphids, scale insects or ant larvae. Some are cannibals, and others prey on caterpillars of other species.
Caterpillars do not have good vision. They have a series of six tiny eyelets on each side of the lower portion of their head, which can form well focused yet fuzzy images. They move their heads from side to side as a means of judging distance of objects, particularly plants. They rely on their short antennae to help them locate food.
Habitat:
Caterpillars mostly eat the leaves of flowering plants and trees using their powerful jaws. They feed on green leaves of various trees, shrubs, and other plants. Some species are limited in their diet and will only eat the leaves of a single type of plant.
Certain host plants have evolved mechanisms of resistance to the feeding of caterpillars, and these include the evolution of chemical toxins and physical barriers such as hairs or short spikes. Incorporating biological controls such as host plant resistance (HPR) through plant breeding is another approach used in reducing the impact of caterpillars on crop plants.
Interesting Fact:
Caterpillars have 4,000 muscles (the human being has only 629!). They move through contraction of the muscles in the rear segments pushing the blood forward into the front segments elongating the torso. The average caterpillar has 248 muscles in the head segment alone.
Control:
Most caterpillars are discovered fully-grown when wandering across lawns, driveways, or sidewalks on their way to pupation sites. During this time, usually mid to late summer and early autumn, they are usually finished feeding and will cause little or no further plant damage. In this case controls are generally not necessary.
However, there are many different caterpillar species, some of which can inflict a nasty sting, not to mention extreme crop damage, and should be dealt with using professional pest control methods.
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