I have a huge infestation of worms. I'll try to connect the photos from my cell phone. The vine is toast and the little critters are all over the walls and water buckets for the dog and cat. UGH. Thought I'd join and look for tips. Someone mentioned BT. What's that? We've had a drought that has relented with10 inches of rain in one month and everything is greening up. but has fed my vine to the grubs!
Darn, wasted 20 min trying to get photos on post. Will have to add them later.
worms are 1" long, skinny.
Light green and black little rings. crawling over the house walls between my house and neighbor. No other plants affected yet.
They ate the vine leaves... are like ghosts. It happened in 2 days, whole vine along the fence eaten! It happened last year at the end of summer and I thought someone had a chemical issue and had sprayed the ground with something nasty. Now I know what caused it.
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valley
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Hi Brian, Kill those son of a guns. Even if you have use a paint roller, than wash the mess off with a hose. I remember one year, my folks fought the caterpillars with cloth wrapped polls that they lighted to burn them off a tree they were consuming, even gathered the cocoons, you know the things they make after they eat their fill. People here spray, they'll come on and tell you what to use I'm sure. but don't let them take your vine. If you have chickens, they'd love the worms, take the worms to them or the chickens to the worms that makes sense in your garden. Do let us know what you do and how it works. Thanks
Richard
Hi Brian, Kill those son of a guns. Even if you have use a paint roller, than wash the mess off with a hose. I remember one year, my folks fought the caterpillars with cloth wrapped polls that they lighted to burn them off a tree they were consuming, even gathered the cocoons, you know the things they make after they eat their fill. People here spray, they'll come on and tell you what to use I'm sure. but don't let them take your vine. If you have chickens, they'd love the worms, take the worms to them or the chickens to the worms that makes sense in your garden. Do let us know what you do and how it works. Thanks
Richard
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rainbowgardener
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Any leaf eater like that should be susceptible to Neem oil. You can get it at any garden store. You spray it on all the leaves in the area they are eating. They eat the leaves and take in the Neem oil, which works sort of like a hormone disrupter. Stops them from eating and mating and eventually kills them. It does not kill on contact like a poison, so it takes a few days to know it is working, but it should work.
Bt is Bacillus thuringiensis. It is a bacterium that attacks caterpillars. It comes in different varieties, which attack different kinds of caterpillars or larvae. Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki is what you would be looking for. Probably at garden stores, possibly you might need to order on line. It comes as a powder that you put on your plants. Like the Neem oil, they have to ingest it before it starts working. The toxin produced by the bacillus paralyzes the digestive tract of the armyworm, and they starve to death. So again, it will take a few days, but they will die (and in both these cases, they stop eating and damaging your plants before they are dead).
There are parasitic wasps that attack the caterpillars. This is not a solution for right now, but if you start now, planning for next year, it can be very effective. What you need to do is plant in your garden things that attract the adult wasps, which is flowers that bear nectar in tiny florets (these wasps are very tiny and don't sting, you won't know they are there, but your worms will!). This includes sweet alyssum, yarrow, all the plants in the carrot family if left to flower (carrots, dill, parsley, fennel, Queen Anne's lace, cilantro etc), mint family plants when flowering, etc. This will bring the adult wasps, which then lay their eggs inside various worms and caterpillars, including your army worms and my tomato hornworms. The eggs hatch into larvae which eat the worm from the inside out. (Us organic gardeners are really sweet, kind people!
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Ladybugs and lacewings eat the armyworm eggs and small larvae and praying mantis would eat larger larvae. You can plan your garden to be attractive to these beneficials, but you can also buy them for release in your garden.
Bt is Bacillus thuringiensis. It is a bacterium that attacks caterpillars. It comes in different varieties, which attack different kinds of caterpillars or larvae. Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki is what you would be looking for. Probably at garden stores, possibly you might need to order on line. It comes as a powder that you put on your plants. Like the Neem oil, they have to ingest it before it starts working. The toxin produced by the bacillus paralyzes the digestive tract of the armyworm, and they starve to death. So again, it will take a few days, but they will die (and in both these cases, they stop eating and damaging your plants before they are dead).
There are parasitic wasps that attack the caterpillars. This is not a solution for right now, but if you start now, planning for next year, it can be very effective. What you need to do is plant in your garden things that attract the adult wasps, which is flowers that bear nectar in tiny florets (these wasps are very tiny and don't sting, you won't know they are there, but your worms will!). This includes sweet alyssum, yarrow, all the plants in the carrot family if left to flower (carrots, dill, parsley, fennel, Queen Anne's lace, cilantro etc), mint family plants when flowering, etc. This will bring the adult wasps, which then lay their eggs inside various worms and caterpillars, including your army worms and my tomato hornworms. The eggs hatch into larvae which eat the worm from the inside out. (Us organic gardeners are really sweet, kind people!
)Ladybugs and lacewings eat the armyworm eggs and small larvae and praying mantis would eat larger larvae. You can plan your garden to be attractive to these beneficials, but you can also buy them for release in your garden.
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valley
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I was thinking Neem oil, I hear people talking about using it, I've never used it. I also like the idea of wasps, never had to use those ether.
We have a bit of a problem with grasshoppers, the birds help with that, sometimes I shoot them with an air rifle, it can be done here, no close houses and it can be fun.
We have a bit of a problem with grasshoppers, the birds help with that, sometimes I shoot them with an air rifle, it can be done here, no close houses and it can be fun.
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Lindsaylew82
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Grape leaf skelatonizer. To be more specific, - Harrisina americana.
The above controls are the going control, but I'm NOT having great luck with neem oil and hornworms, army worms, and fruit worms this year, (I'm so dang tired of caterpillars...) even with a rigorous spray schedule. I hand pick, but I miss a lot.
The above controls are the going control, but I'm NOT having great luck with neem oil and hornworms, army worms, and fruit worms this year, (I'm so dang tired of caterpillars...) even with a rigorous spray schedule. I hand pick, but I miss a lot.
For caterpillars, Bt should work on most of them. You can also hand pick them. They usually are active in the early mornings and evenings. It is also the best time to go on a slug and snail hunt.
I don't have too many caterpillars or butterflies either, I think the garden patrol is on the job on that one. At least the birds and geckos are good for something .
I don't have too many caterpillars or butterflies either, I think the garden patrol is on the job on that one. At least the birds and geckos are good for something .
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applestar
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Good detective work! I think that's them! 
I realized OP didn't identify what the "vine" is. So is it grapes then? ...ah looks like Virginia Creeper, which I believe is infested by many of the same pests as grapes.
Are they everywhere spread out on the vines? Many moth species caterpillars will stay together and feed so it's easy to catch them when they are clustered together on a single leaf (when first hatched) or on a branch. The entire leaf or branch can be sacrificed and clipped off then disposed if -- in soapy water, drop on the ground and stomp, or in a bag. I've also dropped in a 5 gal bucket, THEN followed with soapy water before they could crawl out.
I've also had success "bagging" them -- take large enough plastic bag, carefully insert the branch/vine in the bag, THEN snip off wherever the vine/branch is attached. Drop the bag on the ground and thoroughly stomp, or simply close tight and throw out in the trash.
Often once enough of them are bagged, the stragglers won't cause as much damage, and if they are species that are not kind to lay multiple generations and become an overwhelming pest, it's no big deal to let them be. I have no experience with this particular species though -- maybe they are more of a southern pest,
If they ARE spread throughout, then I do have to agree Bt should work. But Virginia Creeper does host other, more desirable kinds of butterfly and moth caterpillars, too....
Here's one I sometimes find in my garden:
Subject: What is this bush? Elderberry....wild grape???
I realized OP didn't identify what the "vine" is. So is it grapes then? ...ah looks like Virginia Creeper, which I believe is infested by many of the same pests as grapes.
Are they everywhere spread out on the vines? Many moth species caterpillars will stay together and feed so it's easy to catch them when they are clustered together on a single leaf (when first hatched) or on a branch. The entire leaf or branch can be sacrificed and clipped off then disposed if -- in soapy water, drop on the ground and stomp, or in a bag. I've also dropped in a 5 gal bucket, THEN followed with soapy water before they could crawl out.
I've also had success "bagging" them -- take large enough plastic bag, carefully insert the branch/vine in the bag, THEN snip off wherever the vine/branch is attached. Drop the bag on the ground and thoroughly stomp, or simply close tight and throw out in the trash.
Often once enough of them are bagged, the stragglers won't cause as much damage, and if they are species that are not kind to lay multiple generations and become an overwhelming pest, it's no big deal to let them be. I have no experience with this particular species though -- maybe they are more of a southern pest,
If they ARE spread throughout, then I do have to agree Bt should work. But Virginia Creeper does host other, more desirable kinds of butterfly and moth caterpillars, too....
Here's one I sometimes find in my garden:
Subject: What is this bush? Elderberry....wild grape???
applestar wrote:I think this is Virginia creeper -- it's growing like ivy, right?
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result ... lant=PAQU2
Have you seen any -- what I call -- "Stealth Fighter" moths around?
(ACTUALLY Virginia creeper sphinx moth which uses Virginia Creeper as larval host plant)