SEPTEMBER 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Armyworm infestation hits


North Okanagan Pest is known to overwinter, raising concerns for the future


by TOM WALKER ENDERBY – North


Okanagan farmers had an unusual visitor this summer when what many suspect to be the Western Yellowstriped Armyworm appeared on several properties in the Enderby area.


“I was doing a second cut


of my alfalfa the end of July and I got down off my machine to check something. They were all over the ground,” says Paul Eichinger, who has ranched in Enderby since 1949 and doesn’t recall a past appearance of the pest. “I went over to see my neighbour who was also cutting and I didn’t have to ask him; his machine was covered.” Armyworms get their name


from the habit of marching along in a mass, something Eichinger says the caterpillars did the very next day. “They moved out of the field and across the lawn. They were all over the sidewalk and swarming up the side of the house. They were everywhere,” he says. “You couldn’t walk around them, and they crunched under your feet.” They didn’t do a lot of damage to Eichinger’s hay, but they crawled through his vegetable garden eating rhubarb, carrot and tomato leaves.


“I was worried about my barley but they went right through it; I think it was too ripe – not enough juice for them,” he says. BC Ministry of Agriculture entomologist Susanna Acheampong says caterpillars are being reared out to adult moths to confirm the pest’s identification as Western Yellowstriped Armyworm (Spodoptera praefica). “This is the first time it has


been reported in North Okanagan,” she says. “There are two records of this insect in southern BC from the Royal BC Museum collection, 2007 in Cranbrook and in 2009 in Okanagan Falls. We have reports now from Enderby, Armstrong, and Spallumcheen.” These are the only areas to


report the pest this year, she says. Acheampong says the


worm is a known pest in the western US, particularly California, where it can cause significant damage to crops. “We are not sure where it


came from or how it got here,” she says. “The true armyworm that was seen in the lower Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island last year, adult moths were carried on wind currents and we suspect that’s the case here.” The worms are generalist


feeders and enjoy alfalfa, vegetables, ornamentals and


Western Yellowstriped Armyworms infiltrated some hay fields (and vegetable gardens) in the North Okanagan this summer. They can be as just as voracious as true armyworm, which created problems for forage producers on the coast last year. BC MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE PHOTO


weeds. They have caused extensive damage to vegetable and flower gardens and some loss to hay crops in affected areas. “I have seen home gardens completely wiped out like I have never seen before,” says Acheampong. “I understand that one hay farmer has suffered a big enough loss that he is considering a claim to crop insurance.” Acheampong says reports of the 4 cm-long caterpillar increased after farmers took their second cut of hay. It may return later in the season thanks to this year’s hot, dry summer. “They’ve pupated,” says


Acheampong, but with adult moths set to appear in a couple of weeks she says they will likely lay eggs again.


Those will hatch quickly, promising another round of caterpillars this fall. “These moths that are


around now, we could see another cycle of worms in the early fall that could still damage crops and a third hay cut in the early fall,” she warns.


The worm is also known to


survive cold winters, so it may return next year. “We will be monitoring for


it next spring,” says Acheampong. “It’s a concern. … As we have never seen


them before we need to follow up and figure out what is going on.”


The good news is that


researchers in California have done plenty of work on biological controls and natural predators since the 1950s. In addition, management recommendations for true armyworm, which BC farmers battled last year, are applicable to the Western Yellowstriped Armyworm. See [bit.do/armyworm- management] for details.


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