Do caterpillars eat carrots?

[stevemac]

Hello

Today i harvested the last of my over wintered carrots(in containers).Amongst the foliage was quite a few bright green caterpillars(cabbage white ones i think).
Now i know carrot is attacked by carrot fly but do caterpillars also like them?

[selfraising]

I would imagine its just the foliage but there's another challenge to overcome!

[FionaH]

I hate the b*****s they are eating my rocket! Will nuke them before they get near the carrots

[stevemac]

Thanks for the replies

What other challenge is there selfraising?
These carrots were planted in trough like planters late last summer and although smallish/mishapen they are great to taste.
Little experiments like them encourage me to try more.
I just had'nt heard of caterpillar problems with carrots so thought i would see on here if anyone had had similar?
Good luck with the rocket fiona,I grew/ate it for the first time last summer and loved it.i really need to find the space to plant more this year.

[selfraising]

Hi stevemac, I'm a bit of a novice myself but the challenge I meant was to keep them off the carrots. I mean if they eat all the foliage, would the carrot still grow?

[stevemac]

Hi stevemac, I'm a bit of a novice myself but the challenge I meant was to keep them off the carrots. I mean if they eat all the foliage, would the carrot still grow?

Seeing as none of the experienced grapes have commented on this i assume that it must just be a coincidence that the caterpillars were there and that they don't actually like them anyway.

[Eyren]

I think cabbage white caterpillars only eat brassica leaves - most butterfly species are fairly picky. The green caterpillars could be some kind of overwintering moth, such as the Angle Shades moth - you won't find cabbage white caterpillars around at this time of the year.

Picture page about Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa

[stevemac]

Thanks Eyren for the info/site.

By the looks of it, that moth could be the culprit.
It is a beautiful luminous green shade but as it is a risk to my "crops" it still gets squished
Thanks again,steve

[Demeter]

Ah - I think I saw one of those in my garden too.
It was underneath a pot I think, not attacking my babies anyway!
Are we bad for squashing it? The website says they eat "everything"...

[SarzWix]

Any caterpillars found in my plot go on the 'bird tray' - I move it round with me as I'm digging or whatever, and any nasty or unexplained beasties get chucked on it, then I put it on top of the compost bin when I go. The birds are on it before I've got down the path