I found caterpillars hatching all over my scotch pine Christmas tree. What could they have been?

Question

I found these while taking down the tree. They were up to 1 1/2 inches long, light to medium green, with black stripes (made up of dots) running their length. I am worried that they might do damage to the wood in my house. Does anyone know what they might be?

Answer 1

By your description and the tree (Scotch) they were on I'd say they were sawfly larva (similar to a caterpillar). They normally hatch in the spring but bringing the tree into your house probably provided the warmth needed for hatching. They eat the needles of the tree, not the wood. So you don't have to worry about them destroying your furniture. When you put the tree outside in the cold they should die unless you live where the temps do not go into the freezing range. If the temp doesn't kill them the dried out needles probably will because they normally get water and food from the needles. The water is gone so they would dehydrate and die.

Monarch caterpillars are found only on milkweed plants--never on pines.

Answer 2

Evergreen timber had been the core of iciness gala's for hundreds of years, approach earlier than there have been even Christians. Pagans had many gala's headquartered across the evergreen tree, which represents lifestyles and rebirth considering the fact that it remains inexperienced even within the iciness whilst different timber lose their leaves. When the Roman Empire started spreading Christianity, they might now not get the Pagans to stop their devout ideals; it gave the Emperor a "black eye" to have humans below his rule that had been intended to be following the religion he laid out for them however nonetheless participated within the Pagan rituals. So the Romans kind of "merged" the vacations--- in the event you cannot beat them, become a member of them! If they could not get the Pagans to stop the mid-iciness worship and holy days, they would simply pair up the Christian holy days to be at the equal days because the Pagan ones. So the Pagans might nonetheless worship, the Romans had been worshipping, and every body's traditions and holy days variety of received lumped into one. Lots of Christian holy days are like that--- for illustration, Easter... what do eggs and rabbits need to do with the Ressurection of Christ? Not a complete lot; that is simply what the Celtic and Pagan feasts used, and the Christians followed the traditions.

Answer 3

I've seen these before, but never in a Christmas tree. They were only interested in eating the tree. They may be a little bit of a nuisance around the house for a while. I don't think they will even eat your clothes.

Answer 4

They're evil mutant caterpillars from outer space. They were probably in that ninety-year-old fruitcake you forgot to throw out.

Answer 5

These are Monarch Butterfly caterpillars. They are decreasing in population every year. They are non-destructive. You are lucky, these are very pretty butterflies, my daughters love them.