European pepper moth, Duponchelia fovealis

The European pepper moth is a pest of a range of fruit and ornamental plants in green house crops within Europe, such as orchid, pepper, strawberry, tomato, lettuce, celery and pomegranate. This moth also occurs in Africa, Asia and North America. Females lay around 200 eggs in batches of five to ten close to the leaf veins of their host plants. After the larvae hatch, they feed on flowers and leaves then bore into the plants stem and continue down to ground level, in which time the plant can often collapse. The larvae also attack roots. There are one to two generations a year depending on their geographical location. Larvae pupate in soil and emerge as adult moths one to two weeks later. Mothcatcher or Delta traps with species-specific pheromone lures are an effective monitoring tool of adult moths in order to time treatments as part of an effective integrated pest management programme.
European pepper moth
Biology

 

Nature of Damage

 

Monitoring