Artichoke Plume Moth
Platyptilia carduidactyla
A small buff-colored moth whose larvae bore into the leaves, stalks, buds, and crowns of artichoke, making it the main insect pest of the crop where artichokes are grown as perennials. Tunneled, frass-filled buds are ruined for eating.
🔎 How to spot it
Adults vary from buff to brownish buff with a wingspan of three quarters to one and a quarter inches, and the wings are divided into feathery lobes with fringed hind wings that give a several-paired-wing look. Young larvae are pale yellow and older ones are off white, turning yellow to pink at maturity. Eggs are light greenish yellow, laid singly on the undersides of leaves.
🥀 Damage it causes
Young larvae feed on the leaf surface, then tunnel into leaf stalks, flower stalks, buds, and even into the crown below ground. Feeding inside the buds packs the edible bud with frass and tunnels and makes it unusable, while crown and stalk feeding weakens the plant. Damage is worst where the crop is held over as a perennial.
🛡️ Prevent it
Cutting plants down to ground level once a year and chopping and burying the cut tops under several inches of soil can sharply reduce infestations by destroying larvae in the old growth. Remove nearby thistles and related weeds, which are alternate hosts. Pheromone traps and field scouting are used to time any treatment.
🧯 If it is already here
For home plantings, remove and destroy infested buds and shoots, and apply Bacillus thuringiensis or spinosad to reach young larvae before they tunnel deep. Predaceous nematodes applied to the crown area can help but are not fully reliable. Natural enemies, especially parasitic wasps, attack the moth.
💡 Good to know
There are three to four overlapping generations a year, so eggs, larvae, and adults can all be present at once during the season. The pest is mainly a problem along the cool California coast where artichokes are grown year after year; treating the crop as an annual sidesteps much of the damage. The feathery, lobed wings make the small adult easy to recognize.
For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.