Re: iris borer
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: iris borer
- From: D* F* <d*@cornell.edu>
- Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 19:44:39 -0600 (MDT)
> Rima wrote:
>>
>>If an iris borer is pink (something I picked up on the iris-l, Ithink),
>>then what is the large white worm with a brown head that burrows into
>>pseudacorus rzs???????
>Ellen commented:
> Don't know but I have seen these guys in my soil - haven't had
> them in the pseudacorus, I don't think.
Dorothy's two cents:
Rima, if it has actually burrowed into the pseudacorus, I think it is iris
borer. They are only barely pink--kind of a pink-tinted white, and the
head is a bit darker.
There is also a critter all thru the ground around these parts that looks
similar--this is a Japanese beetle larvae--resting and waiting to become
one of those miserable voracious eaters. This starts happening around July
1 here and continues thru the summer. They are a little smaller than
full-blown iris borer worms, and are generally in a curled-up position when
found in the ground. The head is quite noticeably brown, in contrast to
the whitish body. They also look a little less "worm-like" than the
borer. I have never seen one in any kind of rhizome, though. So I think
if the pink-white thing is actively eating your pseudacorus, it is probably
borer...my condolences! (These are not the observations of an
entomologist--I just spend a lot of time sorting around in the dirt....)
Dorothy Fingerhood
who, unfortunately, saw a lot of borers today while digging Siberians.
Guess who never got around to applying Cygon this year???
Newfield, NY
daf10@cornell.edu
