Q. Over the past two days, my two Concord grape vines have
been completely defoliated by a larva-like worm. It is yellow in color
with black bands around the body and a wider blue band at each end of the
body. Is the vine infected and needs to be removed or can the grape vines
be saved? The damage is done, but is there a preventative action I should have
taken?Type your question here!
Showing posts with label grape leaf skeletonizer pictures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grape leaf skeletonizer pictures. Show all posts
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Concord Grapes Ravaged by Skeletonizers
Q. Over the past two days, my two Concord grape vines have
been completely defoliated by a larva-like worm. It is yellow in color
with black bands around the body and a wider blue band at each end of the
body. Is the vine infected and needs to be removed or can the grape vines
be saved? The damage is done, but is there a preventative action I should have
taken?Sunday, May 19, 2013
Update on Grape Leaf Skeletonizer from Reader
I big thanks to Powell Gammill from Phoenix, Arizona, for sending these pictures along with his comments on grape leaf skeletonizers.
Attached are two pics I took last year that capture a female laying eggs (note precise characteristic pattern)
and a pic of newly hatched 1st instar larvae (and one 2nd stage) in uncharacteristic (non-line) feeding pattern (which I hope may indicate a viral infection is established around my vines) and a couple of organized egg clusters. You can reprint them if you wish.
In addition to the Btk and spinosad, you can use dormant oil before leafing and horticultural oil to try and kill the molting larvae under the vines (but this would kill any emerging parasitic wasps as well). By rotating treatments you can hopefully prevent resistance. I have found a easy method of reduction is to look under the leaves and remove any infested leaves before they hatch or get large enough to move on. They strip a leaf at a time and are not too hard to spot if they are still young and on a leaf. Also the adults can't fly very well and look inelegant in flight.
As you said, if you pick the 3rd and 4th instars off manually do so with gloves
and remove them as if you just drop them unharmed they may either find their
way back to a vine or go to ground and cocoon.
I think these were drying out getting ready to start flying. Note, ours (Phoenix, AZ) have an orange head. They too are reportedly irritating (cyanide?) to the skin...I know the larvae have irritating bristles.
Attached are two pics I took last year that capture a female laying eggs (note precise characteristic pattern)
![]() |
| Grape leaf skeletonizer laying eggs on the grape leaf surface. Picture courtesy Powell Gammill. |
and a pic of newly hatched 1st instar larvae (and one 2nd stage) in uncharacteristic (non-line) feeding pattern (which I hope may indicate a viral infection is established around my vines) and a couple of organized egg clusters. You can reprint them if you wish.
![]() |
| Grape leaf skeletonizer eggs laid (right bottom) with larvae hatching from eggs at center, bottom. Photo courtesy Powell Gammill. |
In addition to the Btk and spinosad, you can use dormant oil before leafing and horticultural oil to try and kill the molting larvae under the vines (but this would kill any emerging parasitic wasps as well). By rotating treatments you can hopefully prevent resistance. I have found a easy method of reduction is to look under the leaves and remove any infested leaves before they hatch or get large enough to move on. They strip a leaf at a time and are not too hard to spot if they are still young and on a leaf. Also the adults can't fly very well and look inelegant in flight.
![]() |
| Grape leaf skeletonizer adults. Photo courtesy Powell Gammill. |
I think these were drying out getting ready to start flying. Note, ours (Phoenix, AZ) have an orange head. They too are reportedly irritating (cyanide?) to the skin...I know the larvae have irritating bristles.
Labels:
adult,
eggs,
grape leaf skeletonizer pictures,
laying eggs
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