I have seen signs of this insect on my lamoot tree in the past but have spotted it on one of my mango trees today. Can someone identify insect and suggest a pesticide to get rid of it. The least toxic the better. It is wormlike and seems to be eating the outer layer of bark and making a tunnel sort of hiding place with the remains.

 

 

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chilli, ginger, and Tobacco mix.

On 5/18/2019 at 2:08 PM, Fruit4Life said:

chilli, ginger, and Tobacco mix.

We use this mixture, but added some 40-degree-lao and coffee.

Hi Klong Song ... it's the Tree Bark Caterpillar (also known as Bark Eating Caterpillar). Am impressed you could get a photo of it in daytime as it's nocturnal and remains within its tunnel/burrow under tree bark by day normally.

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/control-of-bark-eating-caterpillars-in-fruit-trees/article6549355.ece

 

It's a pest of a wide range of tree crops. We have the devils under bark of our big flowering Magnolia (dok champaa) tree. Most references suggest treatment with (toxic) chemicals. Your local farm/garden shop will have a choice of organic insecticides but am not sure how effective they'll be.  You could try the home-made concoctions described in posts #2 and #3 above.  The difficulty is getting to the larvae (caterpillars) inside their tunnels under the bark.  Spray-washing the trunk around the entry holes will help, but best to also squirt the pesticide inside each tunnel if possible.  We haven't tried to control them as it's only one tree and the devils have now moved up too high to reach easily. 

 

Good luck ????

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the link. Removing the tunnel exposing the caterpillar made the photo possible. I got lucky.


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