Will Inchworms Climb onto Phalaenopsis Orchids? How to Eliminate Inchworms at Home

Recently, a netizen posted online that a long worm was clinging to the flower stem of their Phalaenopsis orchid at home, with sucker-like antennae at both ends, looking very much like a dry twig, and asked what kind of insect it was. From the pictures they posted, we can see that this insect is called an inchworm (chǐ huò).

It is understood that inchworms are invertebrates and are the larvae of geometer moths. In terms of appearance, they closely resemble dry twigs, with slender bodies that move in a looping, arching crawl like a drawbridge. Because of this, many netizens call them "hunchback worms" or "bow-waist worms." Inchworms are distributed very widely and can survive all over the world. During the day, they mostly rest in the wind-sheltered areas of shelterbelt tree trunks or on the main trunks and undersides of leaves. The damage inchworms cause to plants is destructive, because they mainly feed on tender branches and leaves, quickly eating all the leaves, which easily causes plants to wither and die.

When you find inchworms on your plants at home, there is no need to be too nervous. We can control them according to their habits, and they can be successfully dealt with.

For example, when inchworms are found, you can manage the plant in sections and wrap tape around the areas where inchworms are present to block them from crawling to other places. Secondly, you can spray with a 1000-times dilution of 90% trichlorfon crystal (that is, add 1 gram of trichlorfon to 1 kilogram of water) to kill the insects, and the effect is immediate, with results visible in about half a day. If the number of inchworms is small, you can also simply remove them by hand.