People have all types of goals when planting a garden; they may want to grow their own food, create a backyard oasis, or harvest beautiful flowers.
One person saw the fruits of their labor when their plants were overrun with pollinators.
Often, when people think about milkweed, they may believe that it only feeds monarch butterflies, but these plants offer sustenance for other pollinators.
One gardener found tons of small caterpillars on their plant and took to Reddit for help identifying them.
“I have a few milkweed plants that have been absolutely taken over by these little black caterpillars,” they said. “Any advice?”
Photo Credit: Reddit
Photo Credit: Reddit
The included photos show a few caterpillars happily munching on the milkweed leaves, and a massive cluster of caterpillars lined the stem.
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Redditors on the r/NativePlantGardening page were happy to share that these appeared to be milkweed tussock moth caterpillars.
“Beautiful and beneficial, just like monarchs,” one person said.
According to Butterflies and Moths of North America, these insects are native to much of the eastern United States and turn into a graying moth after their metamorphosis.
Just like bees and butterflies, these moths are incredibly beneficial pollinators, although they are specialized for pollination at night.
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The Fish and Wildlife Service wrote on how to cater to night pollinators with a moon garden featuring plants that are open in the wee hours.
By planting a diversity of native flowers, your garden can support the incredible biodiversity of your local ecosystem — everything from butterflies to birds to bats.
While it can sometimes be easy to jump to conclusions about unknown bugs in your yard, with a little research, you may learn about a new and beneficial addition to your garden.
Redditors on the page seemed thrilled to see the little spiky caterpillars.
“I [swear to god] it’s the year of the tussock,” wrote one person. “My milkweed is being devoured every day! I have never seen so many at once, and my other garden communities are reporting the same.”
Someone else shared, “I haven’t seen milkweed tussock moths on my milkweed for the last two years, despite them being abundant previous years.”
Another commenter added, “They are a night flying pollinator. So cool!”
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