pests bug ID please, killing all my peppers

T

thismembername

this is about the 12th pepper i have found on the ground with these symptoms
 
pods are healthy but have one small hole at the top near the stem.
 
I have now found a worm, maybe slug in one. any idea what this is and if this is the culprit?
 
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Think it's a Caltapa caterpillar. Found one on my plants this year. An it's as aggresive as the tomatoe hornworm. As to not let go. We have a Caltapa tree very close to where we grow. (A tree that grows super long green bean looking things) They get eat up about every June or July every year, by their caterpillars. (This is what makes finding hornworms hard) As there is poop everywhere! Read they only feed on Caltapa leaves. But no, found a mature one on my plants this year. BT caterpillar spray is what I'm searching for. Yet can't find it locally. They are black bodied with yellow or green stripes down their sides. Could also be army worms in your area.
 
In my experience, having them last year, it looks like an army worm. They liked my tomato plants, which were next to peppers, which had the same pod drop as your picture!
 
I do not claim to be an expert, but I bagged them and looked them up, then off to the local feed store. Confirmed. Like those darn horn worms, look for poop on leaves, then look UP!
 
As long as it's a caterpillar use BT/Caterpillar killer.
I found Green Light version/product in pints to cost about the same as Safer brand in 1/2 the sized container.1 pint compaired to safers 8oZ
The critters take a few bites and stop eating.

Also the run off in your soil kills some grubs in the soil.
BT is species specific,doesn't mess with other critters,good or bad,only specific crittera-moth and butterfly caterpillars and a few grubs in the soil.
a different BT that is keyed to grubs of certain types from what I've read and used.
I prefere Mosquito chunks/bits for regular watering if Gnats are a problem.

Caterpillar killer
(green light) is Bacillus thuringiensis species Kurstaki.
Safer says the same but adds that it is strain ABTS-351.
Don't know what the strain means.
Might just be a trade mark thing or?
safer is 15% the other is 12%.
Both work.
To me they both work the same for the loopers I get,

Mosquito dunks are Bacillus Thuringiensis israelensis.
Good for grubs of certain kinds.
BT is species specific,not a poison but a bio for certain stuff.
Short lived in full sun and heat from what I've read though.
It does what I want if I apply it when I see a lot of moths at night or see plant damage.
 
NattyPepper said:
Caltapa caterpillar, the best fishing bait in the world.
Click to expand...
Have a Caltapa tree in our backyard. Can't even stand under it in the summer due to the Caltapa caterpillar poop. That was just my first guess. Second was army worm. But not the beet. Yellow stripe armyworm. They look so familiar. Except the Caltapa worms are larger.

https://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg323.htm

Edit: that link doesn't seem to work for me. Just google striped armyworm. Should be the first link.
 
schweddypods said:
In my experience, having them last year, it looks like an army worm. They liked my tomato plants, which were next to peppers, which had the same pod drop as your picture!
 
I do not claim to be an expert, but I bagged them and looked them up, then off to the local feed store. Confirmed. Like those darn horn worms, look for poop on leaves, then look UP!
Click to expand...
did you treat anything or just let it ride?
 
im not to prone to spray everything with chemicals or whatnot , especially when its so close to harvest
 
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