So I saw the tell tale signs of fritillary caterpillars on my passion flower vine. There were lots of little holes in the leaves, so they were just getting started. Once they get going, they can defoliate the plant quickly! I began looking for the culprits. I found a bunch of eggs that I removed, but only one small caterpillar. I also found a white/beige caterpillar that I didn’t recognize and it was very wiggly. Instead of the usual squish method, I thought I’d feed them to my Venus flytrap! I dropped the Gulf Fritillary caterpillar into a trap and it closed instantly. The fly trap did its job and started digesting the caterpillar. A few days later, the trap opened and you can see the remains.
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| The remains of a Gulf Fritillary cater pillar in a Venus Flytrap |
As I mentioned above, the unidentified white/beige caterpillar was very wiggly so I took care to drop it into the center of a trap. It closed very quickly and I could see the silhouette of the caterpillar moving in the trap. I came back an hour later intending to take a picture of the trap with the silhouette of the caterpillar. But instead, I found this round hole. The caterpillar had eaten its way out of the trap and escaped!
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| A closed Venus Flytrap with a hole where an unidentified caterpillar escaped! |
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