Apple pest plus a question

General Fruit Growing
#1

I need a couple bits of help. First off, I’m in MD

  1. What is th

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    is little cat? I found two of them on the tips of my apple tree this morning

  2. When should I be trimming and/or feeding/spraying to pests for apple trees? This will be our 3rd year with our tree and I always forget to write down a schedule

#2

sorry, marble is for reference. its a small marble haha

#3

When in doubt, ask @LarryGene.

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#4

Early instar caterpillar of one of the swallowtail butterflies.

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#5

Thats the only thing I could find online too. Do swallowtails bother apple trees?

#6

Think ‘economic threshold.’ To have any impact, you’d need tons of caterpillars. I’ve never seen more than a couple two/three butterflies of any type in a day. There’s no way swallowtails are an issue. Maybe you lose a few leaves. No big whoopty!

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#7

If it is a butterfly instar, it can eat my whole tree and I don’t mind. Kidding aside, never heard of butterfly instars cause any serious damage tobfruit trees.

Like @LTCider said, let them eat some leaves. No bug deal.

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