The Duponchelia fovealis moth can be challenge to control in ornamental crops and - with a single fertilized female person up to of laying 200 testis - can quickly become elusive . Preferring dense crops where they can easily obscure , biological controls are providing a workable result .
Damaging caterpillarsOriginating from South - East Europe , Duponchelia is becoming more and more widespread in greenhouse crops in Western Europe and North America . Impacting a orbit of crop , it is especially infamous for causing spartan hurt in Kalanchoe , Begonia , and Cyclamen .
As with all moths , the hungry caterpillar stage is the most prejudicious .
Duponchelia cat tend to prefer areas with high humidity and are in general found at the plant cornerstone or in its gist . Characteristically , they cause feed damage to the base of the stalk , the root neck , and leave , but can also bore into the radical . In pot works these caterpillars have been found feeding on the roots , go to wilt and enable diseases to enter through these lesion .
What to look out forOne fecund female Duponchelia moth is equal to of lay around 200 bantam egg – just 0.5 mm farsighted – around the stem of the leaves or near the veins at the bottom of stalks . After around 8 days , these hatch into larvae ( caterpillar ) which can arise 20 to 30 millimeter long and are cream - coloured and shining with dark head and brown , round abaxial spots on their bodies . The caterpillars tend to remain well secret in the crop .
After four weeks , the caterpillars are full - big and pupate . The pupa are find oneself inside cocoons , 15 to 20 mm long , which tend to remain hidden under substrate particles . This pupal stage lasts 1 to 2 workweek before the adult moth emerge , which can live up to a further 2 weeks .
Highly mobile , the moth can spread quickly and easily in the crop . The adult are light to dark brown , with cream - colour striped abdomens which crook upwards . The wings have a span of 9 to 12 millimeter and are white with a coiling banding .
Monitor / controlThe recommended monitoring scheme is to identify delta traps in the harvest with the appropriate pheromone . Some growers also supervise the pest plainly by using a yellow trap , send horizontally in the craw , or combined with the pheromone .
To master this ambitious pest , Biobest recommend the use of several biological controls point the testis and/or larval stages . To control the caterpillars in the substrate , we commend deploy the beneficial nematode Steinernema carpocapsae - Carpocapsae - System – onto the substratum and leash of the plant life . To target the moth ’s bollock and young larva , Biobest recommends introducing the land - live predatory mites Hypoaspis stat mi - Hypoaspis - System onto the substrate - together with the rove beetle Atheta - System .
