Re: First tent caterpillars of the season
Well this morning just before leaving for work I noted that the caterpillars were still alive on top of the ant mound and were not attracting too much attention from the ants. Lesson: fire ants will not kill these pests. In the future I will spray the caterpillars with something. Many people believe that when spraying a flammable, volatile, hydrocarbon on to an insect it is necessary to light it. I know it is fun for many, but my experience is that just contact with such material will kill an insect.
I have noticed many long thin reddish sucking bugs on my pears this years along with the normal large smelly leaf hoppers. In the future I need to do something about these, but dislike a general spraying of the trees due to the killing of beneficial insects.
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