The oleander caterpillar, Syntomeida epilais Walker, a bright orange caterpillar with tufts of long black hairs, is a common sight on oleanders in Florida. Early infestation is easy to recognize. To control simply use a pair of scissors or pruners to snip off the damaged foliage along with the feeding larvae. Put the infested plant material in a plastic bag and freeze for 24 hours to kill the caterpillars.

Because of the poisonous nature of the plant sap, care must be taken to wash the hands immediately after disposing of the pruned plant material. Large larvae can be hand picked and frozen similarly or dropped into a container of soapy water. This method has none of the possible side effects, such as killing beneficial biological control agents or risking human exposure to pesticides that can occur with insecticidal control..

There are no oleander cultivars that are resistant to oleander caterpillar but it has been suggested that dwarf cultivars may be less susceptible.
Application of insecticides should be considered as a last resort for this insect which, while producing unsightly damage, does not kill oleander. Bacillus thuringiensis, a microbial insecticide that is sold under various trade names, is a bacterium that kills only lepidopteran larvae. It has no toxicity toward beneficial insects.

Additional Resource

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in135