Pest Identification Help
Hello everyone! I found this webbed nest with larvae underneath my basil leaf. Please help me identify! Thank you very much!
- applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30551
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Wow this is cool. I don't know what kind they are but I'm thinking some moth caterpillar "hatching event" -- good thing you caught it in time -- can you imagine all those hungry caterpillars munching away? (Possibly sawfly is another candidate if they make egg casing like this -- was that made of silk or bubbles?)
Be sure to check carefully for more - where there is one.....
...where are you located? That might provide a clue to their ID -- since I haven't seen these on basils before, I don't believe they are locally present. I usually get a creamy white caterpillar, one at a time, that turn into pure white moth, and sometimes a looper/inchworm.
Be sure to check carefully for more - where there is one.....
...where are you located? That might provide a clue to their ID -- since I haven't seen these on basils before, I don't believe they are locally present. I usually get a creamy white caterpillar, one at a time, that turn into pure white moth, and sometimes a looper/inchworm.
It might be a moth. Check out the post below. They were guessing to, but it might be something similar.
https://naturecloseups.com/posts/sign/nest
https://naturecloseups.com/posts/sign/nest
Thank you for your responses!
Applestar- The egg casting looked to be made of silk but with round, bubble-shaped capsules where the larvae hadn't hatched yet. (I will attach a close up picture so you can see what I am talking about) I am located in central Florida. Last week I did see a little brown inchworm on my carrot tops. I relocated it but it could've inched back over to my garden.
Applestar- The egg casting looked to be made of silk but with round, bubble-shaped capsules where the larvae hadn't hatched yet. (I will attach a close up picture so you can see what I am talking about) I am located in central Florida. Last week I did see a little brown inchworm on my carrot tops. I relocated it but it could've inched back over to my garden.
- applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30551
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
This website is in Texas but yours looks like their fall armyworm hatching photo -- scroll down the page a bit. They are non-specific about what they eat. So very possible these are them.
FOCUS on Entomology: July 2015
https://focusonagriculture.blogspot.com/2015/07/
Larvae hatching from a fall armyworm egg mass.