Damaged fruits are not edible. Flowers, buds and sometimes entire plants may be killed. In South Carolina, pickleworms starve or freeze to death during the winter. They overwinter in Florida and spread northward each spring. Severe damage usually does not occur before summer in South Carolina.
Eggs are yellow, irregularly shaped and resemble grains of sand.
They are laid singularly or in small groups on leaves and hatch in three to four days. Larvae feed first on buds, blossoms and tender terminals, but soon move to the fruits. The body is yellowish white at first, but many reddish-brown spots appear on the back after the first molt. After the last molt, the caterpillar loses its spots and becomes solid green or copper. Pupae are usually found in a rolled leaf.