| Two weeks ago I suggested that you control the
"Woollybear Caterpillars" that were and still are eating their way through our
gardens by spraying either Carbaryl or a softer option of spraying the Bacillus
thuringiensis bacteria marketed by several companies as Dipel® HG. A local nursery
person, who suggested that it was not a control for "Woollybear Caterpillar",
because it is not on the label, challenged that suggestion. Now I must admit I had to scan the entire label and discovered that the
"Woollybear Caterpillar" is indeed not specifically mentioned, but I’d had
terrific control using it for years against the woolly critters, so what’s up?
It seems that I cannot make an ‘off-label’
recommendation to you even though upon checking the Dipel®HG effect on "Woollybear
Caterpillars" with PIRSA Entomologist, Nigel Hopkins, I was assured it would in fact
control the woolly critters. Mainly because one caterpillar stomach is the same as another
to our little Bacillus thuringiensis. So there you have it folks!
Nigel also recommended that to control the "Woollybear
Caterpillars" more easily, you should hand pick the largest of them and squash them
by hand, since they are not as susceptible to the tummy-rotting Bacillus thuringiensis as
the smaller caterpillars, woolly or otherwise.
The Dipel® HG spray is also pretty easily removed by rain,
so you have to select your time to spray, by making sure it’s not going to rain for a
few days. I’d imagine even heavy dew, would dilute the active Bacillus too.
This makes control even using Dipel® HG seem less certain,
but then there is always Carbaryl. It might be more toxic, but it certainly works on all
caterpillars, or you could just take a bit longer and squash all the
"Woollybears" by hand. Then again you could leave them all alone too and let
them do a little judicious pruning. |
