Black/Blue moths with red/orange heads
- Thread starter Zatha19
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2014
- Messages
- 11,484
- Reaction score
- 5,590
- Location
- La Porte Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b
- Country
The caterpillars are doing the damage. Spray with Bt (Bacillus thuringensis) and they will be gone in 4-6 hours.
Thanks for the advice. I haven't seen any caterpillars on my mango tree yet(South Florida), but the other plant, the snow on the mountains plant is the one with them caterpillars. The moths just seem attracted to the mango... I cut down the stupid plant with all the bugs more than an hour ago. Them damn moths are everywhere still. Hoping they clear out soon cause if I see caterpillars on my mango tree then I'm gonna have a HUGE problem....
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2014
- Messages
- 11,484
- Reaction score
- 5,590
- Location
- La Porte Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b
- Country
If I were to guess I'd say that all those moths are up to no good. I'd bet that they are laying eggs and that one day soon your mango will be a meal for all those soon to be caterpillars. If that were my mango I'd spray now with Bt and again in 5 days just to make sure.
Greetings, welcome to the Forums.
The day-flying moth pictured in the OP is the White-tipped Black Moth (Melanchroia chephise), in the Inchworm Family (Geometridae).
The caterpillars (larvae) are also called Snowbush Spanworms because they only feed on Breynia and Phyllanthus in the Leaf-flower Family (Phyllanthaceae), including Snow-on-the-Mountain (Breynia disticha), a popular ornamental plant in southern Florida.
The native range of Melanchroia chephise includes the southeastern US, Caribbean and much of Central & South America.
The day-flying moth pictured in the OP is the White-tipped Black Moth (Melanchroia chephise), in the Inchworm Family (Geometridae).
The caterpillars (larvae) are also called Snowbush Spanworms because they only feed on Breynia and Phyllanthus in the Leaf-flower Family (Phyllanthaceae), including Snow-on-the-Mountain (Breynia disticha), a popular ornamental plant in southern Florida.
The native range of Melanchroia chephise includes the southeastern US, Caribbean and much of Central & South America.