Since I moved to Scottsdale, AZ, the citrus I have bought are being munched on. I bought 1 plant from turtleman, 1 kishu from costco, and 1 owari satsuma from Home Depot. Every since I bought the owari, I had noticed the 3 plants not doing as well. Today I saw little caterpillars on them. Brown in color. Biggest where not even a half inch long. There were also tiny ones. Anyone have an idea what it is? Best spray to kill them? I have palms and roses potted near them, and they have not touched them. They also seem to be mostly going for the new growth. Bought Sevin fruit and vegetable spray, but they continue to munch!

Andrew, do the worms/caterpillars look like bird poop? If so, those are Orange Dogs, the caterpillars for the Giant Swallowtail butterfly.
http://www.dddi.org/bartlett/images/104967b.jpg

If this is the culprit, simply "rehome" them, onto something else you don't mind being munched. I know the related Black Anise Swallowtail will eat Wild Fennel, so if you have any around, that's another option for munching. If not, then dispatch as needed.

Please do not kill that beautifull butterfly !!!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Swallowtail

I agree, it's better to try to just pick off the caterpillars (which are disgustingly ugly and look exactly like a big dolp of bird poop, their first line of defense and camouflage), but if you have heavy pressure, they can strip a young citrus tree overnight So, it is a balance of nature for some. I had just a few in my yard. I picked them off, and put them on some wild Fennel that grows near my house. They are as happy there as they are on my citrus trees. For other folks in different parts of the USA, however, there is such a thing as too much of a good (and pretty) thing.

I have them sometimes too here ...
I let them munch as much they want ...
They are too pretty and also rare and precious.

They also are the only butterfly no bird can catch, not even swallows ...

Here our european version :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_machaon

And here is our lovely Giant Swallowtail butterfly here in the USA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Swallowtail

They are huge, and very lovely. They are our largest butterfly here in N. America. We have many different Swallowtails, but our Giant Swallowtail is the one responsible for eating your citrus trees with their "Orangedog" caterpillars. Unfortunately, unlike other Swallowtails who can eat a wide variety of plants, our Giant Swallowtail really prefers plants in the Rutaceae family. Preferably citrus. They do love Lantana, and I see them on my Lantana all the time, here, but not too much damage with my citrus. They are not well liked here in the state of California by commercial citrus growers, sadly. They are very, very strong flyers and can be found as far as the midwest United States (these are mainly a California species). I love my butterflies in my yard. I have many, many varieties due to my yard having a wide variety of California natives, as well making sure I have host plants for our local butterflies in my yard. I let my Passafloras get all tattered to allow the darling, bright little Gulf Fritillaries to flourish here. They will do this lovely dance in groups over my Passafloras. I have several varieties of Milkweed - extremely important for our gorgeous Monarchs, which know somehow, how to find exactly where my Milkweed plants are planted every season, I find that amazing. And, I just scoop up those Orangedogs and put them on the Fennel, which they don't prefer, but will at least allow them to eat enough to complete their life cycle without denuding my younger citrus trees.

Very nice !

I love nature and butterflies are one fragant beauty that would be a horrible loss for this world, if disapear ...