TC-7346, TC-7347 
Pickleworm adults: 4, Male; B, female. 
areas in the South where the insect overwinters. Larvae 
usually are present on cultivated hosts in destructive 
numbers during the last of March and in April in the 
lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Damage by the 
insect has occurred in Missouri during late July and in 
August. 
DAMAGE 
Young pickleworms feed at first at the surface of the 
parts of the plant where they hatch. The surfaces of 
flower buds, terminal buds, and young fruits are favorite 
locations. The larvae continue feeding by tunneling 
into flowers, buds, stalks, vines, and fruits. Flowers may 
be destroyed. Injury to small fruits may destroy them or 
cause them to become deformed as they grow. Larger 
fruits may be made unfit for food, and entire plants 
injured or killed. Plant disease organisms often gain 
entrance through the tunnels made by pickleworms. 
CONTROL 
Cultural practices aid in preventing pickleworm dam- 
age, but they cannot be relied on for control of the insect. 
Application of insecticide is the chief means of control. 
CULTURAL PRACTICES 
Early planting is of value in areas where the insect does 
not appear until late spring or summer. Ask your county 
agricultural agent about best time for planting. 
In semitropical areas in southern Florida and south- 
ern Texas it may be helpful to destroy, if feasible, native 
host plants such as wild or creeping cucumber and 
Okeechobee gourd. 
Fall and winter cleanup measures and use of a trap 
crop do not appear to be of value. 
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