Caterpillar Mayhem

With record rainfall in January 2009 (524mm) there has been an outbreak of insects. Between the grasshoppers and moths inundating my house and workplace (they smell bad when they die in large numbers), my garden has been getting a flogging.

My 19 Arrowroot plants which were going great guns have been attacked by a plague of caterpillars (from the moths) and grass hoppers. At first the control method was some nice old Pyrethrum spray which worked great for attack waves 1 & 2, but attack wave 3 has caused massive losses. My plants remind me of swiss cheese! I used a dose of… dare I say it… Bifenthrin. Before we all start throwing me out of the semi-organic club, desperate times call for desperate measures and I feel bad now…

Here are some great measures to prevent you from killing every bug in your yard with Bifenthrin…

• Pick them off and squish them – I feel that this is very theraputic (should I feel bad for that?)
• Get a Bug Zapper – Will attract moths and zap them (no eggs, no caterpillars)Biological Control – Bacillus thuringiensis is in the Yates product Dipel, it contains a bacterial stomach poison that kills caterpillars in a couple of days (will not kill any good bugs)
• Pyrethrum spray – Will kill most bugs but is natural