This really bugs me.

chappy56

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I found a dozen or more of these on one of my junipers today.
So far, not on any other trees and I think I have it handled, but can anyone identify this little creep?

Bloomington City-20120521-00260.jpg
 

Bill S

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Think out of the box, Beautifull butterfly.

Found a bright bright green one on a juni the other day, probably not doing anything, but I'd remove them. Your tree may have been a nesting place.

Anyone have a catipillar ID place to go, I'd want to know if they are problematic.
 

rockm

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I'll go out on a limb here, but if there was more than one and they were on a conifer, it's probably a sawfly caterpillar. There are many different varieties. They are EXTREMELY bad news and can defoliate a limb in an afternoon, an entire conifer bonsai in a few days. Pick them off, get some sawfly poison--there are sprays. Do it immediately. Watch for them on other conifers you may have.

Aside from destructive, they're just creepy:D. In a group, they will all rear back at the same time if they sense something near them.
 

edprocoat

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I know this has been said but that definetly looks like a pine sawfly! You need to get rid of these fast. There are many different types of these larvae with different colors, these will eat the foliage from your tree. Oddly enough it seems that different trees have different colors/species of these sawfly larvae that eat their foliage. Bad news.

ed
 

Dav4

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First thing I thought of was sawfly larvae, but subsequently dismissed the thought as I've never seen them on any of them on my junipers but have found them several times on various pine species. Any chance these may have been on a different tree first, most likely a pine, near the juniper on which you found them? I have had problems with small caterpillars (can't remember the name of the species- a moth I think) that chew up the tips of my shimpaku foliage and form little nests/cocoons with the chewed up vegetation. I would suggest a systemic insecticide is the best way to go with both the sawfly and the unnamed moth I described as they can rapidly damage/destroy foliage seemingly overnight.
 
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