Leaf Roller Caterpillars

When you're a caterpillar, you're generally on just about everyone's menu. Caterpillar predators include larger creatures like birds and lizards as well as smaller ones like ants and wasps. Caterpillars have evolved a variety of defense mechanisms to protect themselves from these predators (read more about caterpillar defenses here), including some that make rolled leaf shelters to hide.

Long Tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)

Leaf roller caterpillars use silk from their spinnerets (located near the mouth - learn more about caterpillars and silk here) to pull leaves around their bodies. This provides them a sheltered place to rest, with many emerging at night to feed when they feel a little safer. These shelters start out extremely small, just as the caterpillars do: tiny larvae nibble a small section of leaf, attach silk to both sides, and then pull it tight around their bodies.

As the larvae grow in size, so do the leaf shelters. Bigger leaf roller caterpillars may even pull together multiple leaves to create their safe havens. These larger larvae can do pretty extensive damage to the plant on which they're feeding, causing some to consider them major pests in the garden. Oak leafrollers are a great example of a leaf rolling caterpillar that most consider an unwanted invader.

Canna Skipper (Calpodes ethlius) showing off the nibbled leaf and silk pads used to make its shelter

However, while some leaf rollers are considered pests, while others are worth tolerating for the lovely butterflies and moths they become. Common leaf roller butterfly caterpillars and their host plants in Central Florida include:

• Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) - spicebush, red bay, camphor
• Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes) - red bay, swamp bay
• Long Tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus) - legumes
• Dorantes Skipper (Urbanus dorantes) - legumes
• Canna Skipper (Calpodes ethlius) - canna

A little alarmed by those eyespots peeking out at you? Give it a little time, because this is a Spicebush Swallowtail larva...

... which turns into a gorgeous butterfly!

If you find leaf roller caterpillars on your plants, it's always worth a little research to try to identify them before immediately setting off to attack and destroy. Canna skippers can do some aesthetic damage, but rarely damage the plants enough to harm them. Consider removing all the larvae you find to one canna set apart from others in the garden as a "sacrificial plant," or look for the small white eggs regularly and remove them before they hatch. Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars are fairly adorable in and of themselves, and their butterflies are downright lovely. In general, if the damage to your plants is minimal, consider following the old adage of "live and let live" - you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.