What caterpillar is all over my garden?

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zzita Eugene, OR May 02, 2012

Are these something I oughta be happy with or concerned about?

Thank you :)

- zzita

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greenthumb99 Lucketts, VA(Zone 7a) May 02, 2012

Looks like it may be an army worm.

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND May 02, 2012

Or one of the other cutworms in family Noctuidae with a similar color pattern - bad guys...

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zzita Eugene, OR May 02, 2012

Thanks for your help!

The color pattern seems to be very variable, but some armyworm photos look like mine. I could capture another one tomorrow, and compare more closely.

A pdf from the local extension service says there can be a few armyworms around at this time of year, with the largest generation present in August through October here (Western Oregon).

I don't have an army of them, and have not noticed much damage to my garden. But maybe I should be concerned about their children, later this summer?

The extension service says:

"Spinosad is formulated as Entrust for the organic
market and Success for conventional producers. It gave
effective control of large infestations of armyworms in
our research plots. It was also very effective (greater
than 95 percent control) when used in 2005 on grass
pasture in Coos County under a special EPA-approved
“Crisis Exemption.” Entrust was extremely effective at
quite low rates in our 2005 trial."

Do y'all think I should get some?

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Flapdoodle Minot, ND May 03, 2012

Really can't comment much on Spinosad - I've only used it once (for Mexican bean beetles), and it didn't seem to work very well. Control decisions should be based on how much damage you can tolerate balanced by risk for chemical exposure.

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trackinsand mid central, FL(Zone 9a) May 05, 2012

i swear by Spinosad. it's true that it does take longer to work on beetles and weevils but on leaf-eating caterpillars and worms, it is fast. it is an organic systemic, meaning that the insect ingests it and then dies. it is not a spray on killer, if that makes any sense. also, excellent results using it for grasshoppers. i have Crinums that were plagued every year and i spray the Spinosad on and they leave the plants alone or only munch once and gone.

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