Pawpaw Peduncle Borer
Talponia plummeriana
A tiny native moth whose larvae bore into pawpaw flowers, tunneling down the flower stalk and causing the bloom to drop. In ordinary years it merely thins an over-heavy bloom, but in bad years it can destroy much of a pawpaw flower crop and the fruit that would have followed.
🔎 How to spot it
The adult is a very small moth, only about a fifth of an inch long with a wingspan near 9 to 10 mm. The larva is a small tan caterpillar with a brown head capsule, found inside the flower and the flower stalk. The damage itself is the main sign: blackened, dropping flowers with a larva tunneling in the peduncle (flower stalk) and into the adjoining branch.
🥀 Damage it causes
Larvae feed on the flower tissue and tunnel down the peduncle into the branch, which kills the flower so it withers and drops. In a heavy year this flower drop can devastate the potential fruit crop. The larvae have also been found feeding in the developing fruit around the seeds, as well as in twigs and roots.
🛡️ Prevent it
Practical controls are limited because the larvae are tucked inside the flowers; sanitation is the main tool. Pick up and dispose of dropped flowers and any infested fruit to reduce the carryover, and on small backyard trees inspect the blooms during flowering. In a normal year the borer can be left alone, since light flower loss simply thins the crop.
🧯 If it is already here
There is no well-established spray program for this pest, and on backyard pawpaws management leans on sanitation and tolerance rather than insecticides. Removing and destroying dropped flowers and infested fruit through the season is the most reliable way to keep numbers down.
💡 Good to know
In a normal year the borer provides a useful thinning of an over-set bloom, and only in unfavorable years does it build to crop-threatening numbers. It is native to the southeastern United States and is also called the speckled talponia moth. Extension coverage is thin, so monitoring your own trees during bloom is the best guide.
🌱 Plants it attacks
2 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest
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.