Don’t let this month scare you by way of ‘mimicry’. The dark metallic blue with white dots and red “tail” gives the threatening appearance of a dangerous wasp but is completely harmless. The caterpillars are a shade of orange with long black hairs again making themselves look dangerous to prey but are harmless.
Utilizing ultrasonic inaudible signals, the female moth attracts a new mate. Once the male is in proximity, he emits an answering signal. After mating, the females locate a suitable habitat to deposit their eggs (12 to 75) on the underside of the oleander leaves, hence the alternative name of “Oleander Moth”. The larval stage, also called the oleander caterpillar, has an aggressive appetite causing minor to severe damage to the oleander plant, and has been known to feed on the desert rose. Due to the toxic nature of the ingested oleander plant, the caterpillar is not of interest to birds or small mammals. This can result in suitable numbers to decimate the oleander plant. Natural enemies include stink bugs, red fire ants, flies, and wasps.
Removal of the larvae infestation is the most environmentally friendly method of controlling the oleander caterpillar. Because of the poisonous nature of the plant sap, care must be taken to wash the hands after disposal of the pruned plant material. The harvested caterpillars can be humanely disposed of by freezing for 24 hours or dropping them in a container of soapy water. This is the method most environmentally friendly way to dispose of the oleander caterpillars than utilizing insecticides that pose health hazards to humans and/or damage beneficial biological control agents’