Does anyone know how to cope with Brithys crini (Lily Borer, Crinum Borer)? It is a moth of the Noctuidae. It is found in different parts of the world and is supposedly native to Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia. But I wonder if it is actually introduced here.
When the caterpillar is on the outside of the leaf it is easy to cope with but - when it has bored into the leaf and into the bulb - spraying doesn't seem to work, and it just annihilates many of my Crinum, Clivia and Hippeastrum (and others). The bulbs become a rotten mass.
The only way to cope seems to be to cut the leaves off with the cats inside and dig into the bulbs after them. All this is not great for the plants. Every year it is a relentless fight that I am considering conceding.
This a cat inside the leaf.
