Severe Damage to Morning Glories Year

12 years ago

I have had some kind of caterpillar severely damage all of my MGs this year. I had planted some Crimson Rambler, Heavenly Blue, and a mix of JMGs in addition to those that reappear each year. They had beautiful foliage until mid-summer when this moth caterpillar attacked. Not the MG Prominent, a Schizura, but one that folds over a portion of the leaf, and cuts the leaf petiole. The leaves appear shredded. I now have what looks like a tangled web of stems, with new foliage around the tops of the vines, that will soon be decimated as well. Few flowers, none of the red. The Heavenly Blues are very tiny flowers, when they should be larger. None of the JMGs have bloomed. I have squished and squished and squished, but they seem to be more numbers of them coming on constantly.

I cannot spray any kind of chemical or use BT because I have a butterfly and wildlife garden. Is anyone familiar with this pest? And, if so, do you know if they overwinter in the soil or anything? I am hoping not to have this problem again next year.

I have grown MGs for over 10 years in the garden and never had such a horrible problem. I do have the Golden Tortoise beetles, but I know their damage, and they don't usually devastate the vines to the point of not blooming, or destroying the foliage beyond a certain point.

Thanks for any input.

Susan

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Comments (3)

karyn1
12 years ago
Sorry to hear that. I've never had anything besides Golden Tortoise beetles feed on my MG's. The only cat I have that cuts & folds leaves are the skippers and they don't use MG's. What does the cat look like?
susanlynne48
Original Author
12 years ago
Karyn, it's kind of a mottled yellow, green, dark brown/black color. The 1st instars are kind of a translucent green, and they must lay clusters of eggs, because I will find up to 8-10 of the hatchlings on the back of the leaf. Sometimes just one per leaf. It can be hard to get them because they crawl quickly out of the leaf and dangle by a thread-like thing and quickly disappear into the plants beneath the MGs.

I have also had a terrible summer with Southern Pink Moth and they resemble those cats - don't get quite as large. the SPMs make a nest kinda like the Tiger Swallowtails, but they don't cut the petiole and fold the leaves. The SPMs are specific to the mint or Lamiaceae family, preferring Salvia over the other mints.

I have searched and searched the net for anything specific to Ipomoea, but haven't found anything yet. There are so many moths, it is hard to pin them down sometimes. The Golden Tortoise beetles make holes in the leaves so that the leaves look like they've been hit with buckshot. At least that's been my experience. These particular cats just literally shred the leaves in strips. The cats don't get very big, but they make up for their size by their sheer numbers.

It's the most aggravating things, and you know how much of a moth and butterfly lover I am. But these are absolutely destructive caterpillars. I should take a photo of the vines and the leaves, because you wouldn't believe it.

I would say they could be "generalist" moths, but they have been very specific to MGs in the yard that I have in 3 different locations.

Susan
audrey_gw
12 years ago
You might want to check out schizura ipomoeae. As their name indicates, morning glories are one of their favorite plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schizura ipomoeae