An inchworm in a striking yellow and black jacket is devouring a favorite Florida shrub this summer. But, horticulturists say it’s not the only insect making the most of the wet weather.
Prolific plant growth from record May rains and consistent showers means more tender new stalks for bugs to munch on. As per Deborah Levulis, a University of Florida environmental horticulturist in Palm Beach County.
“They are just one of these plants that make a striking statement in the landscape and if you are using it as a screen and it starts to get decimated by chewing insects than you lose that look,” Levulis said. “We’ve had a lot of humidity and a lot of rain, so everything has put in an extra dose of growth and is extra lush.”
After a spanworm eats its fill, it buries itself in the ground. Then, it emerges in about seven days as the white-tipped black moth. The moths, which span a little more than an inch, have an orange thorax and white tips on their black wings.
Another critter, which isn’t eating plants but maybe even more intrusive, is the yellow-banded millipede.
The millipede feeds on decomposing landscape debris, mulch and thatch. They can end up in homes where they typically dry up in the air conditioning.
“We don’t recommend you vacuum them because the odor can get circulated and really stink,” said Bill Schall, a Palm Beach County extension agent with University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, or IFAS, in a 2017 interview. “If you sweep them into a dustpan, or just pick them up, that is better.”