Ahhhhhhh, I have no idea what caterpillars are in your neck of the woods.

Out here I must remember not to kill off the cats of the monarch, queen, gulf frit, swallowtail and other frequenting butterflies.

I planted various numerous plants for the local butterflies...milkweed, passion flower, rue, parlsey and others...then I catch myself freaking out when the leaves get chewed up by the cats!!!

~ Cat

ps...had a repairman working on my aircon up in the attic and he stepped outside my garage for a break...he had a pair of pliers in his hand and he was ready to squish a big caterpillar that was eating my passion flower vine that covers my front archway - I had to yell out for him to stop...it was a nice plump gulf frit cat!!! WHEW!!! That was a close call!!!

If that is a hibiscus leaf, I would guess that they are mallow (or hibiscus) sawfly larvae. They look full grown. Not butterflies. Sorry I don't know how to post a link but if you put mallow sawfly into Google, you will get information on them. They can have up to six generations a year and can completely defoiliate a big plant.
regards,
spiderwoman

Yes I have the mallow hibiscus sawfly they will destroy your hibiscus I pulled all mine out last summer but several came back this year, So far I don't think I 've seen them on the two popup hibiscus but if I do I will pull up the hibiscus again. Sarah

Here is a link that might be useful: Hibiscus sawfly

they got after my hibiscus in two separate waves this year so far, and each time I turned all the leaves and squished them all and the damage ceased for a while after each time. I don't know how to manage them if your beds are too large for squishing to be practical.

I'm going to have to google some butterfly caterpillar pictures so I know which ones to spare. does anyone have a good link already? thanks.

good save, cat!

Thanks, that's what they are hibiscus sawfly. I honestly don't know where all these critters are coming from this year.

This has been a bonanza year for the bad guy bugs! I pulled two more hibiscus this morning! Sarah

Standard...

I hate to admit it...but if I saw a caterpillar on my plants I squish it because I didn't know any better.

I went to visit our local butterfly park last year and got shang-haid into doing volunteer work. I quickly got hooked and even took a landscaping for wildlife class. Talk about me changing my evil ways!!!

When I started to re-vamp my yard I did a google search for butterflies and caterpillars and read up on their host plants for this area (south Texas).

I also cheated and bought plants like rue and parsley from the garden center and was so excited to see caterpillars on them within days! Not sure if a butterfly frequented the plants in my yard or maybe the eggs were already on them when I bought them? Either way...it was great to those little bitty cats turn into big chomping caterpillars within days! It still hurt to see my plants get eaten...but the plants recuperated and I'm happy knowing there are a few more butterflies around thanks to me :o)

I also bought lots of butterfly books off of eBay...got a little too carried away with bidding and buying and ended with duplicate copies of several books...DUH!!! Good thing my brother is into landscaping for wildlife as well...so I gave him my extra books.

~ Cat

ps...I still squish bad bugs and such - and after finding out those green things are hibiscus sawfly larva...I'd kill 'em too!!! Haven't noticed any on my hibiscus plants - but I'll be keeping a watch now.

I hope no one minds but while we're one pests, here's a question. Something is eating my Stachys coccinea. Most of the leaves have been converted to shreds and it has effected flower production. Does anyone suspect what it might be? It is so bad in one of the gardens that it has got me wondering whether I should grow this plant at all.

Could it have been one of the june beetles or a grape vine beetle like this which is devouring my cardinal flower it's over an inch!
{{gwi:994147}}

thanks, cat, I appreciate it. how about that? rue and parsley. and milkweed. maybe one day when I have more swingin room.

today, I noticed round 3 of the sawfly larvae on the hibiscus. another squishy morning.

I'll look more carefully, but so far there haven't been any beetles that I've detected. This plant was supposed to be a demonstration plant at Rancocas Nature Center, and so far it has just been an example of what happens when bugs attack. It's too bad because the flowers are nice and the fresh leaves look good too. Maybe it's just a plant that won't work here.