Pelargonium pest ID please?
 

I don't, off-hand, think I've had anything eating holes in my pelargonia
in years, but I've found green caterpillars making lace of two of my
outdoor potted ones this year. They look very much like the small white
butterfly larvae I squash on my brassicas, but I haven't yet caught two
at the same time so that I can compare them.

I find from Wikip that the Angle Shades moth is a possible culprit, but
the larvae I've executed didn't really match the picture at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_Shades

If this is it, could I be in for some long-term grief? My little Gem
Guide says it eats, throughout the year, almost any herbaceous plant,
and Wp says it overwinters as a larva.

--
Mike.

Pelargonium pest ID please?
 

In message , Mike Lyle
writes
I don't, off-hand, think I've had anything eating holes in my pelargonia
in years, but I've found green caterpillars making lace of two of my
outdoor potted ones this year. They look very much like the small white
butterfly larvae I squash on my brassicas, but I haven't yet caught two
at the same time so that I can compare them.

I find from Wikip that the Angle Shades moth is a possible culprit, but
the larvae I've executed didn't really match the picture at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_Shades

If this is it, could I be in for some long-term grief? My little Gem
Guide says it eats, throughout the year, almost any herbaceous plant,
and Wp says it overwinters as a larva.


For what it's worth, Geranium Bronze has been recorded in Britain.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Pelargonium pest ID please?
 

Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , Mike Lyle
writes
I don't, off-hand, think I've had anything eating holes in my
pelargonia in years, but I've found green caterpillars making lace
of two of my outdoor potted ones this year. They look very much like
the small white butterfly larvae I squash on my brassicas, but I
haven't yet caught two at the same time so that I can compare them.

I find from Wikip that the Angle Shades moth is a possible culprit,
but the larvae I've executed didn't really match the picture at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_Shades

If this is it, could I be in for some long-term grief? My little Gem
Guide says it eats, throughout the year, almost any herbaceous plant,
and Wp says it overwinters as a larva.


For what it's worth, Geranium Bronze has been recorded in Britain.

Of which interesting nuisance, more here, in good and rather charming
English as a foreign language:
http://www.botanical-online.com/floresmariposageranioangles.htm
Thanks for the tip-off. It's early days, but my pest doesn't seem to be
GB, judging from its behaviour. I've caught a dozen larvae today, and
I'm pretty sure they're all Angle Shades. They seem to start life green
and turn brown as they get older: the change starts on the back and
spreads to the belly. (I really must get one of these new-fangled
digital cameras.)

--
Mike.