 | spartanburg business & community directory |
|
This time of year, a particularly frustrating insect that can attack the vegetable garden is the pickleworm. This insect can be devastating to most crops in the cucurbit family – cucumbers, squash, melons and even pumpkins. It’s bad enough to go to pick a cucumber or zucchini only to find it full of worm holes. But if it is that pumpkin you have been watching develop all summer, that is always a pain.The pickleworm adult is a flashy moth with wide triangular wings and a wingspan of about one inch. The wings are mostly iridescent brown, with a central band of yellow and thin white borders. The legs are white. The abdomen is mostly brown except for the tail segment, which is white and has a large fluffy tuft. It lays tiny eggs in small clusters on growing areas of the plant, such as flowers, shoots, and new leaf buds. These areas are the feeding spots for the larvae, which emerge after a few days and eat voraciously for two weeks. Pickleworms bore into sides of fruits and continue to feed there causing internal damage. Both young and old fruits are attacked, but they prefer young fruits before the rind has hardened. After the rind has been punctured, the fruit soon rots, or, in the case of cantaloupes, becomes “sour”. Obviously, once you see holes in the fruit it is too late to save that fruit. Preventive sprays can be applied on weekly basis to prevent damage. Labeled insecticides include esfenvalerate (Ortho), spinosad; an organic product, and B.t. (Bacillus thuringiensis). For more information, call Buncombe County Cooperative Extension at 828-255-5522. (Image provided by Wikipedia.)
Looking for more happenings in the area? Check out Spartanburg.com's comprehensive visitor center.
|
