Good morning, Steemians!

I was doing my morning rounds at the homestead looking at all the trees, and I noticed something strange on the Hamlin orange. It was a big caterpillar, one that I've seen before. One that I've picked off the tree and threw.

I never knew what this larvae was until today. I went on Google and typed in "gray and white caterpillar on citrus". What came up was the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly larvae.

I read that it disguises itself as bird poop (the first time I saw it I seriously thought it was bird poop so good job there!

My next question was "Is it bad for the orange tree?" At least one person has said that on his particular tree, the larvae would munch on some leaves, which encouraged new growth on the tree. I can absolutely attest to this, as we have lots of new growth and shoots on the tree. He also said that the larva I didn't eat the flowers or the fruit. If this is true, that's great. This caterpillar would be much better than the Giant Sphinx Moth, whose larvae devour papaya flowers and leaves.

I think I will leave them there for now, but keep a close watch on the tree.

The Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

Thanks for stopping by, Steemians!