Catpala Worms as tropical fish food?

[screaminleeman]

Has anyone used Catpala worms as food for their tropical fish? I have had excellent luck using them as bait for freshwater panfish, and even had Croaker (hardhead) and small Black Sea Bass hit them in full saltwater fishing!

I know that smaller game fish seem to adore them, but I do not know the overall nutritional vaule or tank health factors involved in feeding them to aquarium fish.

Please share any experiences with using catpala worms (caterpillers) as a tropical fish food source.

 

[screaminleeman]

My spelling sucks. They are "Catalpa", not Catpala!

 

[krichardson]

So they are in fact caterpillars? I've never heard of them being used for fishing but I have heard that some of them are poisonous so I would'nt feed them to my fish.

 

[screaminleeman]

So they are in fact caterpillars? I've never heard of them being used for fishing but I have heard that some of them are poisonous so I would'nt feed them to my fish.

I know that the Catalpa tree leaves are this caterpiller's only diet. This tree is the one that those long bean like pods grow from. They are sometimes called the Indian Cigar tree, due to the Native Americans smoking them for their extreme hallucinagenic effect.

I don't know if they "pass it on" from leaf ingestion, but I sure would hate to see my Dovi "trippin' it's brain out"!

 

[knifegill]

WHAT?! Why does nobody tell me of these great smokable things?! I'm gettin' some right now.

 

[knifegill]

Stupid trees. I only found one row and the beans were all brown and open. Searched the rest of town, talked to forestry, talked to gardeners and florists. Apparently, they aren't common in Wa. I grew up with them EVERYWHERE and had no idea they were largely missing here. As I hopped in my car I thought, "I'll just drive a block or two until I see some.". Three hours later...nothing. *kicks a rock*