canker-worm

dotun55
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canker-worm
canker-worm

Unknown larvae of lepidoptera, a major pest of Morning glory (Ipomoea sp.)

The larvae are active early in the morning when the flowers bloom. While feeding, a larva may bore holes through the fresh pink petals of a flower, creating an array of perforations. On some petals, the perforations are very neat and regularly spaced that it appears to be an original feature of the flower. In other petals, the perforations are wide and irregular which raises suspicion about a resident or visiting pest.
Other infested flower with petals appearing intact, may have have a larva already feeding on the pistil, eating the flower from the inside out.

The event of drilled flower petals has been puzzling for some time after first noticing the flowers when they were at their best in the dry season of 2015. The flowers formed small pink clusters on both sides of the path to a building across a large field.

To find the real pests, I had to set out as early as six o'clock before the sun shone. I perceived the pest to be somewhat nocturnal since they are seldom seen in the daylight. When the flowers were observed at about 9 o'clock in the morning, it was mystifying to find them spotted like this with little clue as to what was responsible. Only once did I find a lone caterpillar hurriedly leaving the scene.The heat of day was on the rise and there had been a flock of egrets browsing for passive insects on the grasses on the field.

True to expectations, a small population of a larvae of an unknown lepidoptera (possibly moth) were distributed over the range of clusters of Morning glory sprawling over the field. There was hardly any cluster that was left undisturbed.
These were the true culprits that were ravaging the flowers. The smaller larvae were light brown in appearance. Larger ones, presumably adults, are leaf green or dark brown. It is unconfirmed whether they all are the same species.

They all would vanish shortly before the sun start to take effect, leaving the flowers looking unalluring like waste vegetables. The delicate pink petals of the Morning glory withers away under the scorching heat. Any late larvae still lingering around has a death wish; to get fried with the flowers and that is if it has not been picked up by a hungry egret for breakfast.

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Taken on: December 15, 2014
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Camera: BlackBerry Z10, f/2.2, 1/1016 sec, 4.1mm, ISO 60 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: BlackBerry Z10
Aperture: f/2.2
Exposure Time: 0.001 sec (1/1016)
Focal Length: 4.1mm
ISO: 60
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Auto
Light Source: Unknown (Daylight)
Color Space: sRGB
Software: GIMP 2.8.6
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