Sugarcane Borer

What it looks like

Adults are straw-colored moths about an inch across. The caterpillars are creamy white with a brown head and rows of brown spots, and grow to about an inch long.

Damage

The caterpillars tunnel through sugarcane stalks, which cuts the sugar content and lets red rot and other decay in. That rot is where the name "rotten sugarcane borer" comes from. Young shoots can die from the center out (called dead heart), and tunneled stalks break. It also attacks corn, sorghum, and rice in the South.

How nematodes help

The caterpillars live mostly inside the stalks, above ground. Some spend the winter in stubble and crop debris at the soil surface, where nematodes can reach them.

Research is limited: greenhouse work in Brazil sprayed S. carpocapsae (the nematode in Ecomask) on sugarcane borers with additives to help it stick, but stalk borers are hard for nematodes to reach.

How to apply

Treat with Ecomask.

When: Anytime the larvae are active.

Where: Spray the stalk bases and leaf sheaths, and the crop debris left after harvest.

See How to apply for step-by-step directions, or use the calculator on the Ecomask Spray page to see how much you need.