Jane: Perhaps this link will help with local IPM information on cutworms and their control. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/cutworms.htm Cheers, Bracey San Jose CA -----Original Message----- From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jane McGary Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2016 2:59 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] Cutworms and bulbs I recently discovered that the damage to some of my bulbs that I had ascribed to slugs is actually being done by cutworms (moth larvae). The latter pests were not present in my former garden so I didn't recognize the problem immediately. I have now sprayed the foliage of the plants they seem to prefer (Fritillaria and Tulipa, especially) with a Bt product, Thuricide, a specific for caterpillars. (Lepidoptera fans, please no hisses: the plants in question are inside a greenhouse.) Now I wonder if there is a way to destroy cutworms early in the season, when they might attack emerging stems as I think they have done here. Could one spray the Bt product on some expendable leaves and put them out to attract the caterpillars? What would be good bait? I haven't seen them attack anything in the vegetable garden or in the open garden, except for a Disporum. Near the subject Disporum there are large patches of Disporopsis pernyi, but those are not attacked, so they would be useless as bait foliage. I also bought some Sluggo Plus, an iron phosphate slug bait that includes spinosib, a specific for caterpillars; I'm told it is another bacterial byproduct. However, I don't know if the cutworms will actually eat the pellets when lush foliage and flower buds are available. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA