From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2000.12.05 at 16:05:23(5748)
Dear Aroiders,
I first sent the letter below to a fish-list I belong to, but since one of
the plants affected, the water lettuce Pistia stratiotes is an Aroid, was
wondering if any one out there in 'Aroid-land' had run into this little
beauty! Maybe you have read about it in some water management or other
paper??
Has anyone on this list experienced a little moth caterpillar (Lepidopteran
larva) that has completely destroyed ALL my floating plants? The little
bastards live in a little (+ - 1/4",1 cm.) floating, folded cut-leaf 'boat',
and eat the leaves of all the floating plants in my fish containers, both
water
hyacinth and water lettuce (Pistia), AND seem able to crawl down below the
water
surface and eat the leaves of submerged plants that are close to the
surface as well! I believe I saw an adult moth of this 'destroying angel',
a
little black delta-winged moth! I first saw this creature in out-door
ponds at my friend Bobby`s home, there it seemed to prefer the leaves of
water lilies (Nymphea sps.) but here I do not have water lilies, so it eats
EVERYTHING in my containers! I wonder if it was one that may have been
introduced by the water management people to control water weeds, but this
thing is NOT selective in it`s diet of seemingly ALL water plants!
Julius
| +More |
IAS on Facebook
IAS on Instagram
