Avocado Plant with Caterpillars (I think)

[wanman0621]

Hello everyone. Happy New Year.

I have an avocado plant growing in Puerto Rico that has damage on the leaves.

I was here in Puerto Rico from 6/26/2020-9/1/2020 and did not see any of this damage on any of the leaves on this avocado plants. I came back to PR on 12/9/2020 and found the tree as it looks in the attached picture.

I found some (what I think are) caterpillars on the leaves. They were actively eating the leaves. I quickly grabbed about 9 caterpillars and ripped them off of the leaves. The caterpillars were yellow/orange and furry or fuzzy. I didn't think of getting a picture of them as I was quickly pulling them off the leaves.

I hope the attached picture can give you an idea of what type of pest did this damage. Any advice on what to use on these pests is appreciated.

 

[Chuck]

The caterpillars have probably encased themselves in a cocoon if you don't see any. But, the very best caterpillar killer there is is named Bacillus Thuringiensis or Bt. Any decent nursery will have it. The second best is a Spinosad based product. What is that white stuff on the limbs and trunk? I hope its paint or something similar.

 

[wanman0621]

Chuck,

Thanks for your reply. I will look for those product you listed and give them a try

I did find some cocoons as well. Some were small but some were pretty big (almost an inch long). They were stuck to the wood and they kinda snapped off when I applied pressure.

The white stuff on the trunk is whitewash that I mixed together. It contains water, salt, diatomaceous earth, hydrated lyme, cinnamon oil, tea tree oil, peppermint oil, neem oil and castor oil. I'm hoping that will help to prevent some of the pests from climbing up the tree.

Yesterday I also wrapped the trunk with tree trunk wrap and applied tanglefoot. Again to prevent some of the pests from climbing up the tree.

Thanks again.