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Green Looper Caterpillar
The looper caterpillar earns his name because he arches his body from the middle into a loop as he moves. If disturbed he commonly waves his body in mid air in a threatening manner while hanging on from the rear. The parent is the common brown moth that is attracted to light at night. Moths live up to three weeks and females can lay up to 1000 eggs each. The caterpillars grow quickly and are hard to detect when small as they lay along the ribs on the undersides of the leaves and their bright green colouring blends with the foliage. When young they eat windows in the leaves and later they cause major damage by consuming most of the leaves and flowers. High summer sees a population explosion of this caterpillar. They like a wide range of plants including basil, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, marigolds and indoor plants.
Control - Chemical
Orthene but don’t spray on plants that you intend to eat.
Control - Organic
Digital (fingers) as very easy to squash. Spray with Neem Flo.
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