Preventing and combating caterpillars
Although caterpillars in nature are certainly useful for a good ecological balance, we prefer to keep too many of them out of our gardens and plants. The following tips will help you prevent and control caterpillars.
What are caterpillars in your garden?
Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies. When the butterfly’s eggs have hatched, the caterpillar enters a period in which it must eat as much plant food as possible to grow quickly. The period of eating and growing takes about 13 to 24 days. After that, the process of pupation and emergence starts in which the caterpillar develops into a butterfly.
Recognising a caterpillar infestation
Because caterpillars are ‘fast multipliers’ they can consume a lot of plant food in a short period of time. A caterpillar infestation can be recognised by leaves being ‘gnawed off’ or plants (or parts of them) being completely bare.
