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What is it?
The european borer is known as ostrinia nubilalis and causes harm and damage to both pepper and corn plants. This garden pest also attacks bean, eggplant and tomato plantings so can be a potentially devestating insect in your vegetable garden if you grow varieties of these vegetables. Typically these pests are prefer cold, rainy weather and they also feed on potato, tomato and pepper plants in addition to corn plants.
What does it look like?
European borers are usually a pinkish colour but some can appear to be more burgundy and or a paler pink in color against the foilage of pepper plants. Typically the european borers which infest pepper plantings grow to the length of one inch and some european borers also have pinkish or reddish stripes along the length of their backs. However, all european borers have dots down the length of their backs and they have dark brown heads. The stripes or bands of these garden pests are rarely white and the contrast of these stripes may be your only indication that the worms are present on your pepper plants, aside from plant damage or if you see the characteristic brown head poking from within a hole in your peppers. Pepper plant damage from european borers will appear as ragged leaves or leaves that look chewed and the plant may not be producing adequate sized peppers. Those pepper plants which are infested and do produce peppers will begin to produce them either distorted or the peppers will be mishapen, be bent or curled inward on themselves. The peppers themselves, if infested with european borers may also have holes which are filled with a sawdust like material.
How does it manifest?
European borers can spend the winter as eggs on grasses and weeds such as ragweed. After over wintering they hatch when conditions become warmer in the spring at attack young plants. At this point the worms feed on the leaves and bore into the bases and sides of the pepper plants. A cross section of an infested plant would reveal a bored tunnel that goes upward from the original entrypoint and often contains sawdust like material which the european borers have left behind while feeding on your vegetable garden. Once these garden pests have fed for several weeks, the worms then pupate in the soil and emerge as adult moths. Fortunately, european borers typically only produce one generation per growing season and as they prefer cold, rainy weather there larvae as often washed away from corn plants at the point of hatching which reduces the european borer population in your garden.
What can you do about it?
European borers usually cause damage to pepper plants and other susceptible garden vegetables before you notice their presence. Your best bet is to remove any infested fruit. The unifested portion is edible so long as you cut away damaged sections of the pepper. However, it may be unappealing to you after the presence of european borers. After harvesting any infested fruit, wait until remaining fruits are about 1.5 inches in diameter and treat plants with carbaryl containing insecticide. You will need to repeat the application of carbaryl three consecutive times at seven day intervals. After harvesting plants at the end of the growing season be sure to discard and destroy any garden or plant debris which may harbor over wintering larvae.
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