Bugs eating Vittata - help to ID & treat

Controlling pests of bamboo

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Todd G
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Bugs eating Vittata - help to ID & treat

Post by Todd G »

I have a large clump of Vittata that is being stripped bare by some bugs. Here's the live state:

Image

Image

and a shed that gets left on the lower stalks:

Image

Any idea of what these are and how I can control them? They seem to live in the soil and migrate up the stalks to molt, leaving dried shed on the stalks. These have taken a bushy, healthy, 40’ tall clump of bamboo and turned it into bare sticks – massive leaf drop. I cleared away the mulch recently and the ground was alive with them.

I’ve taken samples to a variety of big box, small store, and nurseries and no one has been able to ID these hungry little guys. I hit them with a root drench of Bayer Advanced this past weekend. I'm thinking of hiking up my wallet and springing for some Merit 75 powder for a good drench.

This and a couple of other clumps (wamin, chungi, lako, some others) also have a scale or similar infestation. Since most are way too tall for me to spray the top new growth, can someone recommend a systemic and mix ratio that would work for such tall bamboo? Normal systemic instructions show a mix-to-height ratio that would mean something like 50 gallons of pesticide!

Thanks for any advice. Great site and forum. Glad I found it.

My best,
Todd G
Melbourne, FL
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Re: Bugs eating Vittata - help to ID & treat

Post by foxd »

I haven't seen them this year, but I had a mystery bug that was attacking a Yucca. The reason I mention this is that the size and coloration of the bug is very similar to yours. As in your case, nobody could identify it either. It could make a Yucca look yucky very quickly.
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Re: Bugs eating Vittata - help to ID & treat

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Re: Bugs eating Vittata - help to ID & treat

Post by Alan_L »

I thought it looked like lady bug larva too, but they don't eat leaves.

Have you tried the bug guide? http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
or what's that bug? http://www.whatsthatbug.com
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Re: Bugs eating Vittata - help to ID & treat

Post by webgator »

Yeah, by the pictures it sure looks like a ladybug larvae, but you are correct when you state they don't eat leaves! According to this site both the larvae and mature ladybugs eat aphids...and lots of them!

http://www.ladybuglady.com/LadybugsFAQ.htm
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Re: Bugs eating Vittata - help to ID & treat

Post by dudley »

looks like some kind of beetle larvae.
you should be able to find adults if they are hatching.
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