Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: Ru on July 09, 2014, 10:02:09 PM
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Be careful with the bulbs of Galanthus platyphyllus from the Caucasus. Some fly larvaes were found inside their leaves in Georgia. Perhaps, the parasite is present in Abkhazia as well.
The pests do not usualy enter the body of the bulb. During the rest period (summer, autumn and winter) they are in the remnants of leaves slightly below the ground level.
The infestation does not lead to the death of the bulb. However, collecting bulbs requires attention, knowledge of the pest biology and monitoring. The pest can be easily
detected in the bulb and can be simply removed from it. In rare cases, if a bulb is near the soil surface, a larva penetrates inside the bulb.
It can lead to consecutive infections and the rot of the central bud . In this case, the bulbs give 1-2 sister bulbs.
In the left below, you can see the bulbs which have scars of the pest (the last year affection). This year the bulbs are absolutely healthy.
But the scars are an excellent indicator of the pest presence in the examined population.
I have alcoholized some samples of the fly larvae and pupae for further research.
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Face of the enemy :)
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That's very valuable information. Thank you, Ru.
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Thank you Ru, for this information. Always helpful. :)
Good you spotted them.
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NEVER! seen these ones on Platyphyllus clade species (G. platyphyllus, G. krasnovii, G. panjutinii) in Abkhazia nor S. Russia ;D But very interesting info from the new galanthus pest point of view - thanks, Ru! It remains to determine who is it???