Iris borer photo?

I'm planning to submit a DG article for next month on basic spring care for bearded irises, including cleanup, fertilizing, and borer control.

I checked BugFiles to see if I could include a link to a good photo of an iris borer, and I could not find an entry. Am I just missing it?

If you have a photo of this pest, could you please upload it to BugFiles?

Also, if you would allow me to use your photo in the article (with credit given, of course), I'd really appreciate it.

(I've emailed a couple of people who have posted photos on this forum, but haven't heard back yet.)

Thanks!

Where did I put them.. think think. Later. Have something I have to do for another DGer first..

Probably not today.

Go to http://www.cdn-iris.ca
Look at articles. Some good b/w skethces there but I WILL find that photo.

Am sure CIS will be happy foryou to use the sketch. Just ask them.

inanda

This message was edited Feb 13, 2008 1:00 PM

I've got that link in the article already -- thanks!

I think the main thing is to get a photo into BugFiles... I can always add a link to BF after the article is on the schedule.

I'd like to have a nice (maybe nice isn't quite the right word, LOL) color photo or two for the article, but that's not critical. I've got time... I'd probably need to submit it before end end of February to make sure it's approved and scheduled in a timely fashion.

So if you do get a chance to hunt up those photos, I'd appreciate it!

Inanda, thanks for your email! I've sent a note to the photographer, and hopefully he'll let us publish his closeup photo of that unattractive little pest.

If anybody has a photo of borer damage to a rhizome, or of a borer actually on a clump of rhizomes, those would be great to include also...

Thanks!

Lots of images here.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0geu6_pmLRHNHgA11lXNyoA?ei=UTF-8&p=iris%20borer&fr2=tab-web&fr=att-portal

Good Luck with the article, Dan

Thanks for the link, Dan!

Most of those images don't appear to be public domain... While I can start emailing lists of people for permission to use their photos, I'd rather find photos from folks here on DG if I can. That way, we can encourage them to add the images to BugFiles, also.

Iris Borer

Iris Damage

Yuk! I hope those nasties weren't from your garden...

Lady, you've got Dmail. Thanks!

Nope, not my garden. Both pictures found online.

Carol

I hope those boogers stay away from my Iris!!!

Thanks...

But in order to use an image in the article, I need permission from the photographer, both for copyright reasons and so I can give appropriate credit for the photo.

That's why I'm hoping somebody on the forum might have a photo that they took and would be willing to have published in the DG article.

I'm sorry that wasn't clear.

I can still put in a link to a photo or drawing of a borer... There just won't be one right there to make people say, "oh yuk! I'd better take steps to make sure I don't end up with those in my irises!" LOL

Critter, I will be sure and read your article so I know how to keep them away from mine!

LOL... especially now that you've seen those photos... ;-)

Yes, those are some really ugly bugs!!!

YUK,,, I will keep an eye out. I had some one time from ahem a big box store,,, think I will only get them from individuals now...
Elaine

I guess anybody who has had them just destroyed them as quickly as possible without taking their pictures...

Or was this a really rude inquiry, like asking people if they had any photos of lice on their kids?

You can tell me the iris borers were photographed in your second cousin's friend's brother-in-law's garden... three states over...

:-)

We are just really worried that our ugly brother,sister, cousin, or those out laws may send them to us...LOL ,,,
Now.. a good question. Why have I never had any problem with my iris from 30 or 40 years old? Is there a study on that? I am going out to look under my leaves tomorrow after it warms up and see if I see any..
HAPPY VALENTINE"S DAY
Elaine

Mine are all iced over this week!

Iris borers decimated my irises last year. I didn't know I had them until my big, beautiful clumps of irises barely came up last year, and I found the telltale mushy rhyzomes.

To make matters worse, I was in St. Louis for 6 months last year and missed my window to dig them up and treat them. Any suggestions? Can I do it this spring? I don't care if I miss a season of blooms by transplanting them at the wrong time, but I don't want to kill what is left.

I'm not sure if the right folks would be looking in this thread to give you advice... I'd suggest posting a new thread, or bumping up an older thread about borers such as http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/622788/ to post your question.

Although I haven't battled them firsthand, from what I've learned about them so far I'd say: clean up and treat with imidacloprid to get as many eggs and newly hatched larvae as possible, then dig up the rhizomes this summer to get as many mature borers as you can out of the soil. You'll probably still have pupae in the soil that emerge as moths to lay more eggs, so you'll have to repeat the cleanup/treat cycle again next spring.

Watch the plant & look for presence of borer chewing. Maybe only one side of the plant is attacked & you can go down the leaf and find it. In the fall pupae can turn up in your soil & can be destroyed (they are reddish brown) when you are weeding. Constant observation on the plants all growing season will help. You can start in the spring and be alert for the signs--then during planting season--July on you can dig them and look. Also borers are more active in iris planted near shrubs & other leafy plants as the moths like to hide there.

just raked leaf mulch away from my iris,to let them dry out some,, didn't see any signs,, will look again for those nasty boogers. Did see lots of those roly polys...(sp) I think they just eat rotting leaves (?) AND lots of those good earthworms..
Elaine

Some people have reported seeing rolly pollies (sp? that doesn't look right, either!) eating healthy rhizome, like they started in on the rotting part and didn't know when to quit... but I think you're right, generally they're harmless.

Roly Who? Not a critter I recognise. If they are sow bugs there is no problem.

Rolly Polly Olies, is that what you are looking for? That is what we always called those little boogers!

Pictures?

They're similar to sow bugs, but they roll up into a ball (I think sow bugs can't do that).

This is the best pic I could find right now.
http://tera.teralink.com/~rayk/gallery/albums/Macro-Photos/IMG_2890.highlight.jpg

The sow bugs and rolly pollies never bother my plants and only eat decayed matter here yet I've heard people say they're sure the sow bugs eat their plants: I doubt it.

I'd certainly change locations for your irises, Zarebeth. Once you have them cleaned up, trimmed and moved to a sunny spot they should recover just fine - good drainage is critical.

Must be related, thanks for the picture. Sow bugs eat decay. when my husband tought HS biology, one of the labs was to study sowbug reaction when one of their eyes was covered (with masking tape). Not easy to do.

Not a job for shaky hands, for sure.

Sow bugs do mostly live on decay, but I suspect them of mowing down freshly germinated seed as well. I think it is better to keep the not-fully decayed stuff away from baby seedlings because the sow bugs hang out in it. On the other hand, I have never known them to hurt an iris or any decent size plant.

I know they normally don't feed on live plants, but I have watched sow bugs feed on the tops of exposed iris rhizomes. It was always at night, and an isolated incident. Maybe something attracted them to that particular rhizome or they were just really hungry. I covered the rhizome with a small amount of soil for a week or so and problem solved. They are to the most part beneficial. Here's some interesting info...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sow_bug

http://insected.arizona.edu/isoinfo.htm

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_8_20/ai_55248816

Great information, especially the last article.

WOW, good science lesson on those rollies.. pill bugs, crustaceans. Will be sure keep them away from the greenhouse. and rake them away from all my irises. I have plenty of decaying leaves for them to eat.
They probably like the really wet part of a plant too.
Elaine

I do find them under pots but I don't find them repulsive at all, like those hideous slugs.

critterologist,
Reading through your thread, do you still need some photos of the iris borer? Follow this link to my journal: http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/102285/. It is in a section titled "Garden Enemies". If you see any photos there you can use, feel free. They are all my 'critters' from my own iris gardens.

Thank you!!!

That series of photos showing the entry hole and your extraction of the borer will be really helpful in identifying this pest and in showing the damage borers can do. I really appreciate your allowing me to include them in the upcoming article!

You've got Dmail.

Thanks TBGDN! Those are wonderfully helpful pictures. And the good news is that one can rescue the rhizome if you catch it in time. I luckily don't get them where I am, but I am happy know about them in case I move, or , God forbid, they do.