1
point
Caterpillar inside Bhut Jolokia chilli

Chilli Pepper    Sydney, Australia

I have a Bhut Jolokia Chilli Plant that is growing very well. Lots of fruit. Today a couple of young fruit dropped. At first I thought this was due to such a heavy crop but on opening one of the fruits I found light green caterpillar inside. (See image attached).
Any suggestions on what to do? This plant is in a half wine barrel that has produced copious amounts of birds eye chillies and other herbs without any problems. In fact the same barrel has a heavy cropping birds eye going right now (Re-growth from last year). I live in Sydney, Australia and we are just coming out of a quite warm to hot spring. Summer starts in December.

Update:
Attached is a higher res image. Hopefully it will be easier to zoom in on. I couldn't see a horn on the tail end. Second attached pic shows the neat little entry hole. When I cut open the chilli with the hole in it I could not find an inhabitant...? The caterpillar was about 15mm long. Any suggestions on how to control? Prefer to treat "organically" but have be known to go "thermo nuclear" if have to.

Thanks
Allan


Posted by: Allan Bennett (2 points) Allan Bennett
Posted: November 17, 2014




Answers

0
points
My first guess is that that is a tomato hornworm. I zoomed right in on your picture and think I can see spots on the sides but some close up images of the caterpillars would be useful to confirm if you can add them. Does the caterpillar have a prominent spike, or horn, protruding from it's rear end?

**************Update******************

I moved the info you posted here and replaced the original image with the higher res one. You can edit your original question by logging in and going to the bottom of your post and clicking on the small edit button. You can then add new text and images.

It could be tomato fruitworm which also like to feed on peppers. Regardless, a dusting of diatomaceous earth might help or spraying the plants with Bacillus thurengiensis (Bt). Both of these treatments would be natural ways to control the larvae. If it is the tomato fruitworm then you should remove the fruit with holes. But, if it is another pest then the hole may actually be an exit hole rather than an entry hole in which case this wouldn't help to reduce the numbers. If you can get some close ups of the larvae then that would be helpful for diagnosing the pest.


Posted by: Lindsay McMenemy (4 points) Lindsay McMenemy
Posted: November 17, 2014




You need to log in if you'd like to add an answer or comment.
Heart Heart icon