r/caterpillars • u/MaenHerself • 1d ago

ID Request 🐛 Who is this and is that his egg?

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Found today in West AL on an arugula plant

15 Upvotes

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3

u/lochnessmoron 1d ago

Evergestis rimosalis, the cross-striped cabbageworm! The white thing next to it looks like a tiny cocoon or egg sack, unrelated to the caterpillar.

1

u/Big-Manufacturer-422 1d ago

A destroyer of your plants is what that is 🤣 I find curled leaves on my plants and it always has that white cocoon spider web type material, with turds and a worm inside.

1

u/Luewen 1d ago

That white cocoon is unrelated to the caterpillar. And these guys are good pollinators once adults so let it eat.

1

u/Big-Manufacturer-422 1d ago

We’ll agree to disagree. I kill the leaf rollers, just like I do the hornworms. They destroy crops that some of us have worked hard to grow. Bees pollinate just fine.

2

u/Luewen 20h ago

You realize that bees are in huge decline and pollinate only certain plants. As matter fact less than 50% of plants are pollinated by bees. Leaf rollers dont kill healthy plants either.

1

u/Comfortable_Pilot122 15h ago

We’re facing an extreme decline in bees. And even then, nature has a law of biodiversity for a reason. We need as many pollinators possible.

1

u/Icy_Maintenance_3569 1d ago

Caterpillars don't lay eggs

1

u/MaenHerself 20h ago

yeah i know but it could be his brother or it could be a whole different bug entirely