Something new in the garden--brown spots on my parsnips. AWRK!! What is THIS now?! At first glance, I thought that it was Phythphthora. I have never heard of that in parsnips though. A closer inspection revealed nothing on the dorsum of the leaf, but when I turned it over and had a look at the ventral surface, this is what I saw: An enlarged image let me have a better look. I could see silky-like web strands across the brown area and over to the right edge of the leaf bit. Do any of you gardeners have any idea what insect this is the larvae of? I was on my knees removing leaves and squishing larvae when a gardener from further up stopped to ask what I was doing. I told him and saw some parsnips tucked down into his wheelbarrow. I asked if he had noticed anything like what I had on his. He said no, but then pulled the bunch up from their buried depths and saw immediately that he had some brown-spotted leaves as well. He had not noticed them. I silently wondered how he had missed seeing them. Heck, I could see my spotted leaves from a distance. We chatted about what they could be. I did not know but told him that I was going to get rid of them just to be sure. Peculiar this...I have never before had this. I thought that I would ask on here in the hopes that someone might recognize them. If I can discover what they are, I can take measures. The little caterpillars are recent, as you can see by their size--not something that comes in the spring or summer. I also found it interesting that they used spider web-like strands of "silk". Most caterpillars do not use this while they are in the foraging stage of their development. Any ideas or ID will be appreciated.
they remind me of web worms. My guess would to be to spray BT on the foliage of your plants. It is an all natural bacteria that once to caterpillars eat it they quit eating and literally starve to death. Or else just spray with soapy water and get rid of the ones you see for now if you still have parsnips in the ground.
There is a pest called a "parsnip webworm" it doesn't look exactly the same, but the photos I've been looking at are extremely close-up. https://www.google.com/search?q=parsnip ... ip+webworm Does this look like it? It might be larva of a parsnip leaf miner.
Hello CAROLYN--You could be right, I cannot tell for sure. They have all been removed now and so I cannot see them . I will check the foliage again in a few days to see if there are any that I missed. Thanks for your thoughts. BEEKER--Thanks for the link. If I see those worms, they look a bit hairy. My worms were quite young and were not hairy, that is not to say that they would not have become hairy had they lived a bit longer. I do not believe that they are leaf miners. I appreciate your help. Mineerborstelmot Epermenia chaerophyllella is what I have come up with so far.
"Good Luck" in getting rid of them Sjoerd...I am not a squisher, I am one that picks things off and puts them in a jar with some water and a little oil. Of course if you don't replace the jar it can really smell bad. Our weather seems to be wetter than normal and I have noticed quite a few plants turning brown and getting pests on them.
Sjoerd I would agree with Carolyn about some sort of web worm. We also have a caterpillar that makes a web. We call them Tent Caterpillars. But that is not what they look like. I am a bad bud squasher also. I have even taken my salt shaker and sprinkled the slugs in my garden. :twisted: I like watching them get all foamy. Die bug, Die. Thats the last plant of mine you will eat.
Tooty2shoes...we have had tent caterpillars and they were really thick. It just gave you the willies to look at them, they were so active. I agree those are not our type of tent caterpillars that we get in Wisconsin. We cut the whole branch off of the tree and disposed of it in the tent that they make....... Hopefully yours won't come back if you got them all Sjoerd, whatever they were
Sjoerd I sometimes get them on my bitter gourd plant . My only solution is to get rid of the affected leaves and destroy the pest like you did. I have no idea what they are but they are very destructive.
I checked the plants again today and found only three little worms. Those removed, I hope that I have them all. I shall check again in2-3 more days. For this climate, the time is critical for parsnips, as they will be harvested in october or november. They are still small and developing, so I want those pests off the leaves at once, as they were destroying to many leaves too quickly. The parsnips need those leaves to develop the roots further.
