Vitis spp. – Grapes

American grapes (Vitis spp.) grow wild and cultivated, readily climbing a tree or trellis, but without destructively choking anything like the invasive Porcelain berry does. There are many species of grapes native to the northeast as well as other parts of the US. The fruit is tasty for us, but also very beneficial for migrating birds. The pipevine swallowtail moth, various sphinx moths, and many others also find wild grapes to be a great host plant. As with many other plants, grapes can be susceptible to deer browse.

When checking for caterpillar host capabilities, I used Vitis labrusca, a common species that is one of the original species of many widely-used cultivars. This had 9 caterpillars listed that used it as a host plant.

Photo Credit:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12687768