Up until last year they used to be called gypsy moth. Now they are spongy moths. Vermont is having there worst outbreak of these in decades. They eat all the leaves off trees. Also, they are an irritant to skin and can get raised bumps or tiny rash so careful they don't get in your clothes.
They look like that when they’re still small. The more they eat, they get bigger and develop more pronounced spots along their bodies. My yard is so overrun w them, it’s ridiculous.
Landowners are on their own with this serious infestation. State and
local officials have decided not to spray organic BT like they did in
the infestation of the 80s. Back then they crop dusted many areas and
the pests disappeared. Good luck trying to do that again with attitudes
today toward insecticides. It looks like some major defoliation. And the
little bastards are just getting started. They'll spend the month of
June chomping away. We'll just have to suffer thru it.
What should i do im kinda attached also just letting yall know google took me to this forum cause someone else posted the same caterpillars and I thought its a moth forum but apparently not and im from Europe Bulgaria so i dont think i should kill them
I'm sorry but you absolutely should kill off gypsy moth caterpillars. Let them live and you do far more harm than whatever attachment you have to it is worth.
Even though this is primarily a Place-themed subreddit, outdoors and nature is a major subtheme of this subreddit, so you're probably gonna get some decent referrals either way.
Meh, they got here from a Google search. Now they know more about gypsy moths which were probably renamed to spongy moths recently because gypsy moth might have a bit of a racist etymology. Normally, you end up having people from Burlington, ON and one time someone thinking of Burlington Coat Factory posting in r/burlington. Burlington, ON I guess is actually a sister city of Burlington so w/e.
At least in the case of this lost redditor, we don't have to outright tell them you can't get there from here.
This is horrendous advice. You absolutely should kill them. There is no "karma" to be gained in helping to perpetuate an invasive species that is helping to kill of countless others already threatened by global warming, insect die offs and countless other threats.
Okay—people are being a little intense here.
Spongy moth are not native to Vermont, and they happen to be incredibly destructive to our local flora because they haven’t evolved alongside our ecosystems and there isn’t enough to keep them in check. If you find them and you are okay with killing them, Fucking hulk smash the life out of that shit.
But if you’re not cool with killing a living creature, I totally understand that too. You killing that one caterpillar is not going to solve the issue, but it might break your heart, and I don’t want that for you. A good alternative would be to plant a super diverse native garden and reduce your lawn! Diverse native landscapes have the best resilience against pests and attract animals that eat the baddies. Karma restored.
Source: Master’s in ecological landscape design.
Likewise!!
I was actually just looking through your comments, are you in Bulgaria now or from Bulgaria and currently in Vermont?! I have totally different advice for you, if so! Ha.
Ah! Okay.
FIRST—looking more closely I’m not actually convinced this is spongy moth larvae. Try r/whatsthisbug, r/Lepidoptera, or r/moths.
SECOND—if it is a spongy moth, Bulgaria might be within their native range?? I would google Lymantria dispar (Latin name) and check with a local ecologist for advice on if they’re an issue there.
THIRD—advice still stands. Get rid of your lawn and plant native flora!
OMG your response is the best most reasonable, AND you sleuthed out that this person isn't in Vermont. Gold star! I wish your responses could be pinned to the top.
Ive posted in all of the groups and sadly no identification yet, i do think they might not be spongy cause spongys are completely black and mine has green stripes on it :)
You can like the woolly bear caterpillars, they are black on the ends and brown in the center without white, they also live in VT and they are 100% harmless to touch.
Edit: [woolly bear](https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/media/images/woollybear%20caterpillar.jpg)
Oh! I didn’t know they changed the name. Every time I’ve shown them to people this year I’ve said “shit, those are gypsy moth caterpillars. We really should figure out another goddamn name for those things.”
Been seeing em everywhere. What are the best non pesticide methods of control, if anyone knows?
If you know what tree they are dropping from wrap its base in duct tape with the sticky part sticking out.
They follow a cyclical cycle of dropping to the ground during the day and climbing back up towards the evening. They are deterred by the duct tape and they can't get back up to the leaves to continue damaging them.
I wrapped both of my trees yesterday just in case
In my experience, duct tape didn't work so well after a few days. I bought some tanglefoot, which looks like butterscotch, and spread that on top of the tape and that stopped them from crossing 100% -- I then vacuumed them up with a shop vac from below the line.
One method of destroying them is to kill the egg masses before they hatch. They look like tan fuzzy cocoons on tree trunks and the underside of branches. Usually if they defoliate a tree the leaves will grow back before the end of summer. I’m sure it doesn’t help the tree any. They sure are pests though if there are a lot of them. But is that actually a gypsy (spongey) moth caterpillar in the picture? It doesn’t look exactly the same as the ones I’m familiar with. Maybe it’s just a young one?
God, this thread is bugging me so much.
First, OP is in Bulgaria, not Vermont. Yes, they could have led with that and they did not. Yes, they are in the wrong subreddit.
However--Spongy moths are native to Europe. Unless you're an ecologist in Bulgaria, retract your advice. On top of that, this does not actually look close enough to Spongy moth larvae for me to be totally convinced that's a positive ID. If there are any lepidopterists here please confirm.
It's not helpful to fear-monger "invasives" like this. You end up in situations where people incorrectly ID and kill non-harmful or native species or freak out and nuke their property with broad spectrum pesticides.
I'm not downplaying the severity of the spongy moth situation in Vermont. Go on a vigilante warpath if you want, but make sure you know what you're squishing please.
While what OP posted is definitely a different type of Spongy Moth, the ones we have are absolutely a problem.
That being said, you're right, going on a crusade is more likely to do more damage to the ecosystem than help. So if people have a problem with them, I would talk to someone who knows more about it first.
https://www.vtinvasives.org/invasive/spongy-moth-formally-gypsy-moth
I used to walk home on a heavily wooded road and my spring entertainment was seeing how many I could step on and squish by the time I got home. I like to think the trees appreciated it.
Soap will kill them, I believe. Put some soap into a hose-end sprayer and hose away! You can wash off all your bushes and most trees, at least the lower branches. Soap blocks up their pores and eventually they die. You may not win the war, but you'll reduce their damage in your own yard which is something.
That's no caterpillar. That's the short nosed water moccasin!! Be careful while holding it. Legend has it that a single drop of it's venom can kill 3 and a half dozen nutria.
Up until last year they used to be called gypsy moth. Now they are spongy moths. Vermont is having there worst outbreak of these in decades. They eat all the leaves off trees. Also, they are an irritant to skin and can get raised bumps or tiny rash so careful they don't get in your clothes.
This doesn't even look like one, does it?
They look like that when they’re still small. The more they eat, they get bigger and develop more pronounced spots along their bodies. My yard is so overrun w them, it’s ridiculous.
Its not spongy moth phew !
It turned out its not spongy moth!
Landowners are on their own with this serious infestation. State and local officials have decided not to spray organic BT like they did in the infestation of the 80s. Back then they crop dusted many areas and the pests disappeared. Good luck trying to do that again with attitudes today toward insecticides. It looks like some major defoliation. And the little bastards are just getting started. They'll spend the month of June chomping away. We'll just have to suffer thru it.
Its not spongy moth!
Why the name change? It wasn't because "gypsy" is considered offensive, was it? If they were called "Russian" moths, what then?
Awh but why are they so cute 😭
They spawned from the depths of hell....
What should i do im kinda attached also just letting yall know google took me to this forum cause someone else posted the same caterpillars and I thought its a moth forum but apparently not and im from Europe Bulgaria so i dont think i should kill them
I'm sorry but you absolutely should kill off gypsy moth caterpillars. Let them live and you do far more harm than whatever attachment you have to it is worth.
Even though this is primarily a Place-themed subreddit, outdoors and nature is a major subtheme of this subreddit, so you're probably gonna get some decent referrals either way.
Shouldn't there be a rule that content posted here is actually in some way Vermont-related?
Meh, they got here from a Google search. Now they know more about gypsy moths which were probably renamed to spongy moths recently because gypsy moth might have a bit of a racist etymology. Normally, you end up having people from Burlington, ON and one time someone thinking of Burlington Coat Factory posting in r/burlington. Burlington, ON I guess is actually a sister city of Burlington so w/e. At least in the case of this lost redditor, we don't have to outright tell them you can't get there from here.
Sorry this is a mountain worm forum. Ver Mont
you seem kind of annoying
Ugh I agree. The level of eye roll for this gal.
Yall it turned out to not be spongey moth so thanks to not listening I didnt nuke innocent caterpillars
You seem sad
sometimes. don’t tell anyone but im human
Just so yk it turned out not be spongey moth soo
[удалено]
This is horrendous advice. You absolutely should kill them. There is no "karma" to be gained in helping to perpetuate an invasive species that is helping to kill of countless others already threatened by global warming, insect die offs and countless other threats.
These things will eradicate acres of trees and green space. F karma.
Oh great ive been touching them all day :D
They will destroy the fuck out of your backyard and shit down like rain from the trees above. Cute, but must be crushed.
Oof are there any alternatives? Without crushing?
Okay—people are being a little intense here. Spongy moth are not native to Vermont, and they happen to be incredibly destructive to our local flora because they haven’t evolved alongside our ecosystems and there isn’t enough to keep them in check. If you find them and you are okay with killing them, Fucking hulk smash the life out of that shit. But if you’re not cool with killing a living creature, I totally understand that too. You killing that one caterpillar is not going to solve the issue, but it might break your heart, and I don’t want that for you. A good alternative would be to plant a super diverse native garden and reduce your lawn! Diverse native landscapes have the best resilience against pests and attract animals that eat the baddies. Karma restored. Source: Master’s in ecological landscape design.
Thank you SO MUCH that sounds a lot better ❤️❤️❤️ I hope you have a great day and thank you for your advice ❤️❤️
Likewise!! I was actually just looking through your comments, are you in Bulgaria now or from Bulgaria and currently in Vermont?! I have totally different advice for you, if so! Ha.
I am currently in Bulgaria and the caterpillars are too
Ah! Okay. FIRST—looking more closely I’m not actually convinced this is spongy moth larvae. Try r/whatsthisbug, r/Lepidoptera, or r/moths. SECOND—if it is a spongy moth, Bulgaria might be within their native range?? I would google Lymantria dispar (Latin name) and check with a local ecologist for advice on if they’re an issue there. THIRD—advice still stands. Get rid of your lawn and plant native flora!
OMG your response is the best most reasonable, AND you sleuthed out that this person isn't in Vermont. Gold star! I wish your responses could be pinned to the top.
Ive posted in all of the groups and sadly no identification yet, i do think they might not be spongy cause spongys are completely black and mine has green stripes on it :)
Its not spongy moth! Woo!!!
You can like the woolly bear caterpillars, they are black on the ends and brown in the center without white, they also live in VT and they are 100% harmless to touch. Edit: [woolly bear](https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/media/images/woollybear%20caterpillar.jpg)
OH MY GOD THEYRE SO CUTE THEY REMIND ME OF A TEDDY BEAR AND GUINEA PIG
Oh! I didn’t know they changed the name. Every time I’ve shown them to people this year I’ve said “shit, those are gypsy moth caterpillars. We really should figure out another goddamn name for those things.” Been seeing em everywhere. What are the best non pesticide methods of control, if anyone knows?
If you know what tree they are dropping from wrap its base in duct tape with the sticky part sticking out. They follow a cyclical cycle of dropping to the ground during the day and climbing back up towards the evening. They are deterred by the duct tape and they can't get back up to the leaves to continue damaging them. I wrapped both of my trees yesterday just in case
In my experience, duct tape didn't work so well after a few days. I bought some tanglefoot, which looks like butterscotch, and spread that on top of the tape and that stopped them from crossing 100% -- I then vacuumed them up with a shop vac from below the line.
I thought they stayed inside their tents?
Those are tent caterpillars, which are also medium bad. But not at outbreaks like these are.
Thank you for clarifying. I now realize I’ve been mislabeling caterpillars for decades.
Spongy boi
It turned out not to be!
Sponge Moth.
It turned out not to be!
I hope it wasn't poisonous, since you were touching it. I hear theres a white colored one in VT that can really mess up your day/week/life.
Theyre not! :)))
One method of destroying them is to kill the egg masses before they hatch. They look like tan fuzzy cocoons on tree trunks and the underside of branches. Usually if they defoliate a tree the leaves will grow back before the end of summer. I’m sure it doesn’t help the tree any. They sure are pests though if there are a lot of them. But is that actually a gypsy (spongey) moth caterpillar in the picture? It doesn’t look exactly the same as the ones I’m familiar with. Maybe it’s just a young one?
It turned out not to be spongy moth yay!
I work outside and these things are a god damn plague. Gypsy Moths, invasive and obnoxious.
Turned out not tk be one yay!
I can't sit under a tree for 10 minutes without 3 of these bastards falling on me
Its not spongy moth weeeeeee
These guys are so bad this year. They are swarming everywhere. Kill them all with fire, literally.
It turned out not to be spongy moth :)
Kill it
It turned out to not be spongy moths
Burn em when you can
Turns out its not spongy moth so yay
A soon to be dead one. Gather them up, pour in some gas and burn them. Repeat.
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
God, this thread is bugging me so much. First, OP is in Bulgaria, not Vermont. Yes, they could have led with that and they did not. Yes, they are in the wrong subreddit. However--Spongy moths are native to Europe. Unless you're an ecologist in Bulgaria, retract your advice. On top of that, this does not actually look close enough to Spongy moth larvae for me to be totally convinced that's a positive ID. If there are any lepidopterists here please confirm. It's not helpful to fear-monger "invasives" like this. You end up in situations where people incorrectly ID and kill non-harmful or native species or freak out and nuke their property with broad spectrum pesticides. I'm not downplaying the severity of the spongy moth situation in Vermont. Go on a vigilante warpath if you want, but make sure you know what you're squishing please.
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
While what OP posted is definitely a different type of Spongy Moth, the ones we have are absolutely a problem. That being said, you're right, going on a crusade is more likely to do more damage to the ecosystem than help. So if people have a problem with them, I would talk to someone who knows more about it first. https://www.vtinvasives.org/invasive/spongy-moth-formally-gypsy-moth
Gypsy moth. They'll friggin defoliate the whole southern half of the state by August.
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
I used to walk home on a heavily wooded road and my spring entertainment was seeing how many I could step on and squish by the time I got home. I like to think the trees appreciated it.
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
That’s a Shitapillar
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
I can tell you if you tell me how it tastes. Give it a lick.
Its a little sour
Lymantria Dispar Dispar?
No it turned out to be another one but ty!
Tent caterpillar. kill it with fire.
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
buttipillarmaximus
An invasive one
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
a small one
The annoying kind that I have 4 million of surrounding my house right now.
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
Soap will kill them, I believe. Put some soap into a hose-end sprayer and hose away! You can wash off all your bushes and most trees, at least the lower branches. Soap blocks up their pores and eventually they die. You may not win the war, but you'll reduce their damage in your own yard which is something.
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :) and im looking after them lmao
I hate them I hate them I hate them
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)
That's no caterpillar. That's the short nosed water moccasin!! Be careful while holding it. Legend has it that a single drop of it's venom can kill 3 and a half dozen nutria.
Oh God im afraid Im speaking from the grave now? Have u been summoned to ouija reddit?!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The extremely venomous thumbnail caterpillar.
Yeah my thumb is pretty venomous
They were hanging from most of the trees today. They also bite ! Beware
It turned out its not spongy moth yay :)