Scientific name of Garden Webworm is Achyra rantalis
Region: Garden Webworm is found throughout North America, but growers in the Midwest and Southwest are mostly troubled by them.
Life cycle: This pest produces two to four generations every year. Overwintering is complete by the pupae inside the dust.
Physical Description: Garden Webworm is 3/4 inch long worm is beam sea green with a brightness band and small dark olive spots. It has quite a lot of hairs on each slice and hides within a silken tube on the soil. The mature moth is brownish golden-haired with dreary and russet markings, and a wingspan of about 3/4 of an inch. The eggs are laid in groups on the leaves of the host plants.
Feeding characteristics: This insect attacks bean, beat, corn, pea and strawberry plants by spinning light webs and feeding from within. They fall on the soil when they are troubled.
Controls: Cut off and destroy webbed branches. handpick feeding webworms, and crush those hiding in their silky-smooth tubes by stepping on them. Various Trichogramma Wasps and the Spined Soldier Beetle are natural predators and can aid in controlling this pest. If damage is intolerable and handpicking is too labor intensive, you can apply Bacillus thuringiensis or pyrethrum.
