Blueberry Questions - Ask Extension
Hi there! This is our 2ed year with some blueberries we planted (bought from costco) I’d guess they are 4 years old total.
Anyways, I picked our ...
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Blueberry Questions #875975
Asked July 05, 2024, 9:57 AM EDT
Hi there! This is our 2ed year with some blueberries we planted (bought from costco) I’d guess they are 4 years old total.
Anyways, I picked our blueberries yesterday (bluejay and legacy if I’m correct) and the legacy had some worm damage to my blueberries. It looks like cherryworm, but the field guide said mostly in Washington (neighbors have a cherry tree, but i could see it being one of the other types of moths/worms too.) Thoughts on id for the worm would be much appreciated.
Related: Is there a way to tell the difference between worm silk and spider webs? And almost forgot: the 3ed photo, is that red-ish circle normal scaring from flower falloff or a problem due to spores/worm bites?
And another id question: there is a larger, skinny green flyer that likes to land on the leaves/stems; are those insects harmful?
Thank you!
-Tyler
Marion County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi Tyler,
Well, that caterpillar certainly looks like a cherry fruitworm (Aspila packardi, formerly called Grapholita packardi), but there are a lot of small details that should be examined before confirming that ID. I can't see those details from your photo, but if you want to know for sure, you could bring or send a specimen (or a few) to us at the OSU Plant Clinic. Here are instructions for how to submit a sample if you would like to do that...
https://bpp.oregonstate.edu/how-submit-insect-and-spider-materials
For a caterpillar, it would be best to submit it live.
You are right that cherry fruit worms are mainly in Washington, but sometimes insects move on their own or are moved by the activities of people, so it is possible they could show up here in Oregon.
If that is a cherry fruit worm, it is likely that the red-ish circle you noticed on the one blueberry is a place where a fruit worm bored into the fruit.
For your other questions, I do not know of a way to distinguish spider silk from caterpillar silk with certainty. I usually just look around near the silk to see if I can find the critter than made it.
As far as the larger, skinny green flyer that likes to land on the leaves/stems goes, I imagine you could be thinking of an adult green lacewing, but I am not certain from your description. Here is a link to a South Dakota State University webpage that has photos of a green lacewing adult so you can see if that is right. The page also has a lot of information about these insects...
https://extension.sdstate.edu/green-lacewings-beneficial-predators-both-small-and-large-scale-landscapes
Green lacewings are predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects, so they are great to have in the garden.
Hope that helps!
Well, that caterpillar certainly looks like a cherry fruitworm (Aspila packardi, formerly called Grapholita packardi), but there are a lot of small details that should be examined before confirming that ID. I can't see those details from your photo, but if you want to know for sure, you could bring or send a specimen (or a few) to us at the OSU Plant Clinic. Here are instructions for how to submit a sample if you would like to do that...
https://bpp.oregonstate.edu/how-submit-insect-and-spider-materials
For a caterpillar, it would be best to submit it live.
You are right that cherry fruit worms are mainly in Washington, but sometimes insects move on their own or are moved by the activities of people, so it is possible they could show up here in Oregon.
If that is a cherry fruit worm, it is likely that the red-ish circle you noticed on the one blueberry is a place where a fruit worm bored into the fruit.
For your other questions, I do not know of a way to distinguish spider silk from caterpillar silk with certainty. I usually just look around near the silk to see if I can find the critter than made it.
As far as the larger, skinny green flyer that likes to land on the leaves/stems goes, I imagine you could be thinking of an adult green lacewing, but I am not certain from your description. Here is a link to a South Dakota State University webpage that has photos of a green lacewing adult so you can see if that is right. The page also has a lot of information about these insects...
https://extension.sdstate.edu/green-lacewings-beneficial-predators-both-small-and-large-scale-landscapes
Green lacewings are predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects, so they are great to have in the garden.
Hope that helps!
