Is this an army worm? How do I keep them from coring out my young Catasetums?
 

This is the third catt that i have found a small worm eating the center out of. I know to keep an eye out for other pests, but these guy seem to be continually showing up and it is driving me nuts. I was able to drive this guy out of hiding by spraying the core with a permethrin spray that I have. It seemed more aggravated (than dying :(( )when it finally crawled out.

Can I give my catts a preventative treatment now? Even with being home the past couple of weeks I somehow managed to miss seeing this guy until it was a decent size. I go back to work in a week and I don't want another one chowing down on another orchid and I miss spotting it until it is too late. I have already lost one plant due to a secondary bacterial infection that it caused. Also, how do I prevent these guys from appearing in future years? Would treating this group with a systemic before they go dormant assist them through the spring before I water them? My Catasetum Pileatum was hit when it was really young before I started watering it out of dormancy, and I think I just got really lucky that an infection didn't spread.

I have attached two pics of the offender. The third is of my catamodes, which happens to be the current victim. The fourth is the Pileatum that was hit this spring.

where do you live?

i dont know this pest but my instinct is to look up if they are 1) indigenous, then 2) what eats them, then 3) why dont i have enough of #2?, then can i fix that and get more balance? and then 5) what other methods can i employ like buying beneficial insects, changing conditions, using natural pesticides.

I really dont use chemical petsicides at all so i there might be a really easy spray if you go that way.



good luck

I bet Bacillus thuringensis (BT) would take care of these. If you can't find the ID online take a caterpillar to your County agricultural extension office.

Pick them out and move them to another area of your yard--preferably where birds will find them.

If the "worms" are crawling into the pot of their own volition, then hanging the plants will help cut that down. If the moth is laying eggs on the plant, then only a physical barrier (e.g., net) would help. Chemical treatment for caterpillars is typically BT, as mentioned by ES.

I am in west central Florida. Where it feels like we have every insect known to man. It doesn't help that we are going through a minor drought despite heading into an El Nino year. The majority of my orchids live in my eastern patio (all of the ones hit by this critter have been in there) and a few are also living in the mango tree (vandas). I will go swing by the extension office today to have them confirm if it was an army worm. We have been working the past few years to change the backyard from being only turf grass to having a variety of plants to combat the monoculture the previous owner had. We have noticed more birds, dragonflies, lacewings and predatory wasps in our little area. That said, this offending mook was burrowed in the whorl of the orchid. I'm not sure many predators that would find it so deep in there.

Would BT stay in the plant's system over winter to help protect in the spring?

No, it's a bacteria that washes away in the rain

i am very close to you but far enough to have a completely different universe of fauna...what did thye say at the branch office?

i would hope they have ideas about management as well, maybe.

i agree with you that likely only large predators can eat that worm, at that size. it was a larve and an egg at one point too.

i was having a tough time with aphids and i imported ladybugs for a few consecutive years and it has helped. i like Nature's Good Guys as a bug shop- always quick and everything is alive and active

Extension office said that the caterpillar's id is a mystery unless i send it in. Since it is currently dead and destroyed, I am going to have to rule that part out. However she was able to tell me that this guy arrived via a nocturnal moth. She suggested spraying with spinosad into the crown of the orchids every few days if I wanted to take a preventative approach. She said Bt would also work but requires more frequent application. I asked about a systemic, but she said they were not very effective for caterpillars. Spraying in the crown of a young catasetum gives me the heebee jeebees. I guess I will have to figure out some sort of enclosure/tent for them while they are coming out of dormancy or try to stay hyper vigilant.

Catasetums come from very rainy areas. They get water in the crown every time it rains.