Saddleback Caterpillars: Yes, They Sting.
22nd August, 2010 - Posted by Scott - 2 Comments
This little guy, about an inch long in real life, is a Saddleback Caterpillar. They are of note for two reasons:
1. They are a general feeders that will munch on a wide variety of garden plants. In large numbers, which I’ve had this year, can defoliate a 3 year old blueberry bush in a matter of days. On doing a garden walk two weeks ago I noticed that all four of the blueberry bushes were in various states of becoming denuded. A cursory glance at noon didn’t reveal anything so I went ahead and started picking blueberries figuring I would find the predators in the early morning or late evening. That’s when it happened. I got stung.
2. The sting. I’ve been swarmed by ground hornets on several occasions, usually because I ran over a nest with a mower, hit by bumble bees, and fallen into thistle, to name a few ways I’ve been injured by nature’s bounty, and nothing compares to the stings I received from the Saddleback Caterpillar. I didn’t know what hit me but it hurt like the dickens. I rushed inside to wash my hand and check the damage, thinking I disturbed a wasp. There were three stings in total, that I could see, all clustered in the soft part of my hand between the thumb and forefinger. The pain was like an electrical current pulsing into my hand, and yes, I’ve electrocuted myself before too.
A rash raised up across the back of my hand. Application of ice took out the peak pain and a follow up with a topical anesthetic made it tolerable the rest of the day. The next morning the rash and pain were gone. Though it didn’t last long, it did incapacitate that hand while it lasted.
Control:
I have been hand picking them while wearing a heavy pair of leather gloves and then disposing of them. This has been fairly successful with only a moderate amount of work. Though I pulled over 40 off of the 4 bushes the first time out after discovering them, and recovered from the sting, in days since I have only picked another half dozen or so. Manual control looks to work well, is simple, and only takes a few minutes to accomplish.
From researching it a bit, it looks like they are susceptible to BT if you choose to dust or spray with it. Be advised, however, that BT will also kill butterflies.
However you choose to handle them, wear protective clothing and be careful. These little guys pack a powerful punch.
2 Comments
Denise crisamore
July 11th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Hi, i sure know how ur pain felt,i also was bitten by one of these lil nasty creatures ,i cried an rushed an put my arm in the swimming pool but did do much with tKing the pain away,the pain felt like it lasted forever…..never want the exsperience it ragain!
I is for…. | Daze of Adventure
November 11th, 2011 at 2:58 am
[...] to find out, these bad boys can sting like none other. Good thing after we all obtained our photos we swatted him off we excused him from the lunch [...]
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