Does Anyone Know What This Is And How To Get Rid Of It

[freedhardwoods]

My wife keeps finding these in her Gladiolus. It starts eating inside the flower and eats down into the stem.

WORM IN FLOWERS A.jpg (33.33 KiB) Viewed 705 times

WORM IN FLOWERS B.jpg (5.67 KiB) Viewed 705 times

[applestar]

It looks like a caterpillar, maybe climbing cutworm (the photos are a bit out of focus and I can't see the markings if it has any).

She doesn't want to use forceps or hemostats to pick them out of the flowers? I hesitate to recommend any of the usual caterpillar killers because any butterflies and bees that visit the flowers would also be affected.

She could try scratching around the base of the plants. If climbing cutworm, they would tend to go back down to the ground in the morning.

[freedhardwoods]

I can safely say she doesn't want to go looking for them or picking them out of the flowers. She just wants them dead and gone.