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Friend or Foe?

These are all over my Passion Flower.

AstralSmoke 8 Oct 2
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1

Friend! Gulf fritillary caterpillar

Meme0309 Level 5 Oct 3, 2018

Thank you. Now I just need to remember the name. Sounds like it's a long way from home. They are very interesting to watch as butterflies.

3

Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. Beautiful butterflies.
Don't worry, Passion Flower, being very fast growing, can handle the load.
No need to spray or kill caterpillars. They will reward you soon

Leafhead Level 8 Oct 2, 2018

Good advise. I don't use chemicals anyway. Just surprised to see how many there are.

@AstralSmoke
I'm glad you're not into chemicals.
Some other treats for your garden would be Pipevine, Spice bush and Milkweed. These plants will harbor the next generation of Swallowtail and Monarchs. In addition, grow dill and Fennell.
Lots of wildflowers, plus annuals like Zinnias, Tithonias and Cosmos will provide nectar for adults, as well as bees and other pollinators.

@Leafhead Thanks for the advice. I already have most of the plants you mentioned. Even bought phlox at your earlier recommendation. Still working on the 5 varieties of milkweed that grow native here. Always more plants to try. I have a pipe vine growing amongst the Passion Flower and purchased a Wooly Pipe Vine that I have yet to plant. Love plants and if they attract critters, even better!

@AstralSmoke
I see that I am already conversing with an established butterfly gardener. Good Show!!
I have been doing it for many years and it is always new and fresh.
Some pix

@Leafhead Oooh, I like the brown one!

I've gotta be the slowest butterfly gardener on the planet. I have a place I designate as my butterfly garden, but like everything else in life, it's always a work in progress.

@AstralSmoke
Gardens are like that. They keep us busy and happy. A "finshed" garden is a boring one, and all the ones with all the hedges, statuary and spray spray spray are worst of all.
I am glad neither of us are "green desert" creators.
There needs to be a drastic shift away from lawns and more roof gardening, food forests and nature preserves

@Leafhead I totally agree. I've 'inherited' my mom's yard, which I am slowly transforming into a garden. It's a difficult and 'a lot of work' process. There are a lot of non-native plants for instance that require a lot of time to eradicate.

In my opinion, there is no call for chemical warfare, although many of my neighbors take this approach. And even these approaches take a lot of effort and money, so there is, in reality, no finished garden (or yard). I appreciate your approach and knowledge. Thank you very much for your assistance in my lack of knowledge.

5

These are Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. They require passion flower leaves in order to advance to beautiful copper colored butterflies ! The plants regenerate. I'd be delighted to have these critters in my yard !

evergreen Level 8 Oct 2, 2018

Thanks. I knew someone would know. And yes, I have several copper colored butterflies flying around. They are a bit difficult to photo though. Haven't managed to get one that's still while I have my photo apparatus with me.

I'm not worried about my Passion Flower. It has grown passionately this year.

I did a quick image search, but being short on time, I didn't find what I was looking for.

Thanks again and I won't be concerned with being overrun by some threatening species. At least not this one.

@AstralSmoke
And depending on where you are, look for white caterpillar with black spines. These are Zebra Longwings, and are among the country's prettiest butterflies.

@Leafhead I'm in TN. Will do more research. Thanks.

Thought I'd add some photos. This is the first year I've grown Passion Flowers. It surprised me how well it's grown.

@AstralSmoke
TN is a bit north of their range, but they're worth the research anyway.
Do you have any Pipevine in your garden?

@AstralSmoke In central Florida, Passion flowers grow wild - with their lime size seed pods - such beauties !

3

Friend. Google...
[google.com]

CaroleKay Level 8 Oct 2, 2018

Thank you very much. I like seeing the butterflies, so yeah!

3

Depends.

Do you like butterflies?

How will eradicating them (or leaving them be) affect you, the plant, and/or the native ecosystem? (Also, do you care?)

Taking the ecological perspective, perhaps YOU are the foe?

Quite a few questions need to be answered, but never forget the most important one: What would Jesus do?

I'm leaving them be. Just thought I should ask. I'm not worried about the Passion Flower and I have no idea what Jesus would do if he were living today. I don't think he thought too much about plants.

@AstralSmoke Seeing as the passion flower was named thus to reference the passion of Jesus and is redolent with biblical references, it pleases one to see that thou hast chosen to emulate our Lord and Savior.

1

I can't ID them but methinks they are butterfly or moth caterpillars

btroje Level 9 Oct 2, 2018

Yes, according to everyone else (almost) they are good, which is good. I wasn't worried about the Passion Flower, just didn't want something bad breeding in the yard. I feel like I've been overrun by bad things this year (mostly plant life) and didn't want something controllable to get out of hand. Yeah for the positive!

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