Homesteading Information - Identifying Caterpillars in Field, Forage and Horticultural Crops

One of the major factors that can affect your garden is the little pests that invade your gardens. They can totally devastate your crops and ruin the yield you may obtain from your garden. It is also important to remember that many of them are also toxic and can cause severe bites or irritating skin conditions if you aren’t careful to use gloves or other means of protection to avoid inadvertent contact.

Not only can they damage your crops but they can damage you as well. It helps to be well informed as to what these pests look like and the dangers they may pose to avoid an unpleasant situation.

The hickory tussock moth is just one example. It starts its life as a white caterpillar and it has a set of black tufts along the middle of the back. It also has a black head. They normally feed on the leaves of hickory, pecan and ash trees, among others. They are considered venomous and can inflict a painful rash if they are improperly handled.

Staying well-informed about the pests that can affect both you and your garden will help you to maintain more control over your garden and its yield. It will also help you avoid those “unpleasant situations” when you come into contact with these pests in your garden.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service has an excellent brochure entitled

 “Identifying Caterpillars in Field, Forage and Horticultural Crops”

It is available for download at this link:

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1121/ANR-1121.pdf

You can also view the most dangerous caterpillars at this link:

The Twenty Most Toxic Caterpillars

Information is always a critical part of survival and should be given a priority status in your planning.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker