How to fight pine moths. Moth butterflies - pests of garden, berry, and ornamental crops
Moths (lat. Geometridae), or surveyors are a large family of butterflies, numbering more than 2,000 genera and about 23,000 species. For garden and vegetable plants, the greatest danger comes from moth caterpillars, which eat both cultivated and wild plants. Most often, in our climate, we find such representatives of the family as the pine and winter moths, the skinned moth and the gooseberry moth, or gooseberry.
Moth butterfly - description
The moth butterfly has a wingspan from 9.5 to 51 mm, but in most insects it reaches 30 mm. The body of butterflies is weak, the wings are wide and tender, although among moths there are species with both a thick body and underdeveloped wings. Moths have no eyes, the proboscis is weak and spiral, and the legs are thin. The front wings are usually broadly triangular, and the hind wings are rounded and pinched. Moths fly mainly at night; their flight is weak and uneven. At rest, the wings are most often spread flat or folded into a house. In males they are well developed and have a protective coloring, and the antennae in males are feathery. Many female moths have shortened wings or no wings at all, and thread-like antennae.
The moth caterpillar is most often naked, long, thin, worm-shaped, usually colored to match the color of the leaves, stems or bark. The two front pairs of legs of caterpillars are undeveloped, and because of this they crawl strangely, as if measuring space with their body, like a measuring chain, or a span - hence the name of this family. The moth larva has such developed muscles that it can for a long time stand on hind legs, stretching out the body: at these moments the caterpillars look like leaf petioles or broken twigs.
In the photo: Moth caterpillar
Smooth, without a cocoon, red-brown, gray, green or yellow pupae overwinter in cracks in the bark, in spider nests in trees, in the ground or on its surface. After emerging from the pupa, adult moths lead night look life and feed on the nectar of flowers, but there are species that do not need food. After mating, females lay eggs on seed pods, buds, branches, leaves or needles. The caterpillars that hatch from the eggs feed very intensively and then pupate.
Moths are leaf-eating and pine-eating pests that eat the generative and vegetative organs of plants and can cause serious damage to fruit trees and shrubs over large areas. As a result of their pest activity, the quality of fruits deteriorates, crop yields decrease, and the winter hardiness of plants and resistance to other diseases are weakened. unfavorable factors. Moths are characterized by periodic outbreaks mass reproduction, the consequences of which can last for several years, and during such periods moths can completely destroy leaves on plants.
Types of moth
Pine moth , like all lepidopteran pests, has a protective coloring, making it invisible against the background of pine bark: gray-brown wings are decorated with zigzags and black, white and dark brown spots. Green pine moth caterpillars feed on pine needles and, at the peak of their gluttony, can deplete entire hectares of young pines or fir trees.
Birch moth over the past hundred years has changed its color. This is due to the fact that the soot settling on birch trunks, made their bark darker, so the birch moth butterfly learned to produce black pigment: outer side its wings are covered with black spots, and the butterfly sitting on the birch tree practically merges with the trunk. Birch moth caterpillars are green. They feed on the leaves of not only birch, but also alder and hazel.
Black moth – Eurasian forest species with a wingspan of 13-15 mm. Both the body and wings of the butterfly are black; a thin white border runs along the top of the front wings. The caterpillars of this species are velvety green; they prefer to feed on earth chestnuts and rosemary, although in the absence of these plants the pests may change their tastes.
Fir moth lives on Far East and in the eastern part of Siberia. Its grayish wings are decorated with gray or white wavy lines. The fir moth caterpillar looks like a fragment of a dry branch. The larvae usually feed on larch and fir needles.
Gooseberry moth , or gooseberry has a bright color: on the back and head, yellow hairs and black spots form a T-shaped pattern, clearly visible on a white background, and lower on the wings there are large merging spots and black and yellow lines in a wavy line. The caterpillar of this moth, strewn with large dark spots, also has an elegant appearance. The caterpillar damages not only gooseberries, black and red currants, but also rosaceous plants: plum, apple, apricot. The caterpillar feeds on leaves, buds and seeds of berries, and glues the damaged areas with cobwebs and pupates in them.
Winter moth It looks discreet: there are transverse dark lines on the gray wings. Caterpillars of this species damage stone and pome crops, as well as wild plants. deciduous trees, eating away the buds and young seeds from the inside. Eggs laid in autumn overwinter in cracks in the bark at temperatures down to -7 ˚C. For the full course of the winter moth cycle low temperatures necessary.
Ripped off - under this crude name there is a brown, cream or greenish butterfly, the wings of which are decorated with two wavy stripes. Its larvae damage the leaves, buds and buds of not only apple trees, cherry plums, rowan berries, cherries and blueberries, but also wild maples, birches, lindens, oaks and rose hips, leaving characteristic ragged bite marks on them.
In the photo: Moth butterfly
Great green moth is different large sizes: its wingspan can reach 45-50 mm. Newly pupated butterflies are brightly colored green color, against the background of which transverse white stripes are clearly visible. This species lives in forests throughout Europe, feeding mainly on hazel and birch leaves, but this does not mean that for others hardwood he's not dangerous. Brown caterpillar The green moth reaches a length of 25-30 cm. The insect overwinters underground and in cracks in the bark, and in the spring it acquires a green color with brown spots.
Mulberry moth distributed mainly in Central Asia. The females of this species do not have wings, but the males have brownish-gray wings. Mulberry moth caterpillars eat the buds and leaves of mulberry, peach, apricot, quince, plum, apple, poplar and acacia trees.
How to get rid of moth
Fighting the moth
It is necessary to fight moths using a combination of agrotechnical, mechanical, chemical and biological methods. To agrotechnical methods struggles include:
- regular inspection of plants for pests;
- loosening the soil in the trunk circles of trees and shrubs with early spring until the end of April, and then from the first ten days of September until the start of frost;
- digging up the soil around trees in summer and autumn;
- mechanical removal of dead bark and moss from trees;
- whitewashing of trees in early March and October.
Mechanical control measures- the most labor-intensive, but also the safest - include:
- morning collection of caterpillars by hand or shaking them onto the litter and subsequent destruction;
- use of adhesive belts against insects;
- collection and destruction of spider nests on bushes and trees and plant residues in their tree-trunk circles.
Chemical method involves treating fruit storage facilities, plants, and containers with pyrethroids, organophosphorus compounds and neonicotinoids. And under biologically fighting moths means attracting them to the garden natural enemies, which are parasites and tahina flies, for which phacelia, clover, ornamental onions and sunflowers are planted on the site, as well as spraying trees and shrubs with biological pesticides.
On the picture: Garden pest moth
Remedies for moths (drugs)
It is advisable to use insecticidal preparations against moths for preventive spraying of the garden in spring time. If there is a need to treat plants during the season, then in the case of even a very large number of pests, only drugs are used biological origin. Preventive spraying fruit trees and berry bushes are carried out before flowering begins. The following drugs are used for treatment:
- Akarin is an insectoacaricide, a biological preparation of contact-intestinal action, effective against a complex of pests;
- Karbofos is a broad-spectrum insecticide and acaricide, belonging to the class of organophosphorus compounds and used for quick and complete destruction sucking and leaf-eating insect pests;
- Zolon is a contact-intestinal insecticide and acaricide that remains highly effective even at low air temperatures. However, the drug is highly toxic to warm-blooded animals;
- Kinmiks is a contact-intestinal insecticide for the control of gnawing and sucking pests;
- Decis is a contact-intestinal insecticide, part of the group of synthetic peritroids and used to control sucking and leaf-eating pests;
- Fitoverm is an insectoacaricide of biological origin with enteric contact action to protect plants from pests in open and closed ground;
- Bitoxibacillin is a biological insectoacaricide for protecting plants from pests. The period for the last treatment with the drug is five days before harvesting any crops and 10 days before harvesting medicinal plants;
- Lepidocide is a highly effective insecticidal biological preparation with intestinal action that can be used at any stage of plant development;
- Dendrobacillin is an insecticide recommended for spraying plants during the growing season against leaf-boring and other pests. The last treatment period is five days before harvesting any crops and 10 days before harvesting medicinal plants.
Fighting moth with folk remedies
Chemicals are the most strong weapon against any pest, however, they contain poisons that can accumulate in the fruits. If the pest situation does not look threatening, then it is better not to use potent insecticides, but to make do with time-tested folk remedies. The effectiveness of herbal decoctions and infusions compared to the effect of pesticides does not exceed 30-40%, and you may have to carry out several treatments instead of one, but as a result you will not only destroy moths, but also preserve the quality of the fruit. The following folk remedies are used to control pests:
- decoction of tomato tops: in 10 liters of water you need to infuse 1 kg of chopped tomato tops for 4-5 hours, then boil the infusion over low heat for 2-3 hours, let it cool, strain and add the same amount of water;
- infusion of burdock leaves: the crushed leaves are placed in a bucket, filling it to a third of its volume, water is added to the brim and left for three days, after which it is filtered and used to treat plants;
- milkweed decoction: 4 kg of crushed stems of milkweed need to be poured into 5 liters of water, boiled for 2.5-3 hours, cooled, strained and filled with water to the brim of the bucket. This amount is enough for two sprayings, the first of which is carried out as soon as the caterpillars are detected, and the second - 4 days after the first;
- hot pepper decoction: 100 g of finely chopped bitter pepper fruits should be poured into 1 liter of water, boiled for an hour, then left for two days, then crush the pepper into a pulp directly in the broth, strain the mixture and use in parts, adding half a glass of broth to 10 liters of water. For better adhesion, you need to pour 50 g of liquid soap into the solution;
- wormwood decoction: Boil 1 kg of wilted wormwood in 2 liters of water for 10-15 minutes, let the broth cool, strain and add enough water to make 10 liters. Use for weekly treatments;
- infusion of yarrow: Steam 800 g of dried herb collected during flowering with boiling water, leave for 30-40 minutes, then add water to make 10 liters and leave for another 40 minutes. Before processing the plants, filter the infusion and add 50 ml of liquid soap to it;
- tansy powder: Grind dry stems, flowers and leaves of tansy into powder and dust the plants with it.
The pine moth belongs to the family of pest butterflies living in Russia. Due to its attachment to coniferous forests, it received this name, regardless of the region of its habitat. These insects are distributed throughout the country. If mass invasions occur, then this population of butterflies remains in the selected area for a long time.
Characteristics at different stages of development
There are several types of moths, but the pine moth is most similar to the fir moth, which has yellowish-grayish wings with brown spots.
Butterflies of this family differ in color from each other, but their structure is almost all the same. Appearance of the pine moth: the body looks like a slender thin stick, the upper wings are slightly raised up, and the hind wings are rounded. Forms of butterfly development:
- Caterpillar. The egg hatches into a green yellow head a caterpillar whose size is approximately three millimeters. Then it acquires a yellow-green or blue-green color, and three longitudinal stripes appear throughout the body and head. When the caterpillar reaches 30 mm, it has three pairs of legs, which are respectively located on the chest, abdomen, and there is one false rear pair.
- Doll. At this stage it is green in color, but during transformation the color becomes brown with a shiny tint.
- Female. The wingspan is approximately 35 mm. Wing Brown with a hint of rust, there are small yellowish-white spots in the upper part and dark spots in the lower part. The chest and belly of females are larger in size than those of males. Females also have brown-yellow antennae.
- Male. Its wings are somewhat smaller and, as a rule, brown with white or yellow specks, and a triangular-shaped spot can be traced at the base of the wings. The body is slender.
What does the pine moth eat?
This butterfly loves pine needles. In exceptional cases, it can feast on cedar, fir, spruce or any other species. Affects forested areas, parks and garden plots. In general, butterflies like low-lying plains with high to moderate moisture content. The butterfly breeds, as a rule, in the heat, and if summer season and dry, this leads to a huge and rapid growth of the population.
Mating occurs in the first month of summer. Huge replenishment of the pine moth offspring, as a rule, occurs in June-July. The female individual lays eggs and places them in rows on old needles, about thirty pieces at a time. On average, four to seven rows are obtained. If there are a lot of butterflies, for example, during invasions, egg clutches can also be located on newly emerging needles. Typically, a female lays between 80 and 230 eggs in one season. About twenty days are required for their development, but if the summer is hot, then this process is reduced to eight days.
As soon as the caterpillar hatches from the egg, it immediately begins to feed on the needles, gnawing out longitudinal grooves. As it grows, it eats the needles on both sides; it does not touch the base and trunk. Sexually mature individuals eat the entire needles. While the butterfly is in the caterpillar stage, it consumes about one hundred needles, which is about 3.5 kg. Insects feed mainly at night. First they destroy the old and then the new needles. This process continues until late autumn. Starting in October, the caterpillar hides in the litter, which is located under a tree, and pupates for the winter. From the beginning of May - June, the transformation of the pupa into an adult occurs.
Fighting the moth
To prevent caterpillars from turning into butterflies, you should preventive actions. Basic measures to combat pine moth include the following:
- If there are too many pupae, then they are used to destroy them. chemicals or biological agents.
- IN autumn period it is necessary to collect all the fallen leaves and pine needles in heaps, which will be visited by birds and animals. Digging into them, they happily eat the pupae of the pine moth.
- On personal plots recommended in autumn time dig up the soil around the trees.
- Attract birds by hanging decoys.
- During the period of bud formation coniferous plants treat them with special biological preparations.
Early frosts will also contribute to the death of the main part of the offspring. Great help Other forest inhabitants also contribute to their destruction: hedgehogs, birds, ants and other insectivores.
Is the pine moth a consumer or a decomposer?
Within the same ecosystem, different groups of organisms have different functions. All of them are divided into three groups:
- Producers, or producers. These include some types of bacteria and plants that produce organic material from inorganic compounds.
- Consumers or consumers organic matter, which the producers produced.
- Reducers are destroyers of organic substances into simple inorganic compounds.
The second and third live off the substances created by the producers. The moth feeds on needles and belongs to the group of consumers. Who eats pine moth? It is massively destroyed by badgers, foxes, birds, spiders and ants.
- Receptors that are responsible for taste qualities, are located on the paws.
- Butterflies, like elephants, feed using their proboscis.
- A butterfly's eyes are made up of thousands of faceted elements.
- In China, India, and also in countries South America butterflies are eaten.
- They lack a heart.
- Butterflies can only distinguish three colors: green, yellow and red.
- The exoskeleton of insects is located on the outside, internal organs respectively are located inside it.
- In China, these insects are a symbol of love.
Conclusion
Pine moth - very beautiful insect. However, behind her attractive appearance hides a voracious enemy who is capable of destroying entire coniferous tracts.
The damage these pests cause is certainly great. If a tree is unable to restore its needles after repeated eating of the crown by caterpillars, it begins to weaken and dry out. Following the butterflies, pests attack it and contribute to its final death.
This species of butterfly is one of the 1,500 family of pest butterflies found in Russia. The pine moth got its name due to its “tender” attachment to coniferous forests. Moreover, the region does not matter, the insect is distributed throughout the country: from the Caucasus to Altai, and from the central part to northern regions. During mass invasions, huge moth populations remain in the favored area for several more years (5-8).
External characteristics at different stages of development
Among all types of moths, the pine moth is most similar to the fir moth. However, the difference with other varieties of this family lies only in color scheme. The structure of all of them is almost the same: a slender body in the form of a thin stick, wide plates of the upper wings raised upward and a pair of rounded hind wings.
Caterpillar. Hatching from the egg, it is a yellow-headed green worm no more than 3 mm long. In the next stage, it becomes blue-green or yellow-green in color, decorated with three white longitudinal stripes, including the head part. The caterpillar grows to 22-30 mm, and in the process of growth acquires three pairs of legs on the sternum, one on the peritoneum and one false hind leg.
Doll. Its dimensions are 11-15 mm, color is green. During the transformation process, it turns into a shiny brown shade. The shape of the pupa is pointed at one end.
Female. Larger than the male in wingspan (32-40 mm). The color of the wings is brown with rust. The upper part has yellow-white spots. Bottom part wings with dark spots, without a clear border of color transition. Thoracic and abdominal parts too larger than males, thicker, much larger and lighter. There are yellow-brown antennae.
Male. The wings are slightly smaller (30-38 mm), the combed mustache is dark in color. The wings are brown, dark, with spots of white or yellowish shades. At the base of the wings there are large triangular spots. The body is dark and narrow.
As the name suggests, her favorite food is pine needles. In some cases, it can eat spruce, fir, cedar, and other types of coniferous vegetation.. It attacks not only natural forests; it happily attacks plantings in nurseries, parks, and private plots. Prefers low-lying plains with high or medium levels of humidity.
The moth prefers to breed in the heat, when the summer is dry, its population growth is most rapid. Especially if after such a summer comes Warm autumn. Such favorable conditions the pest can destroy huge coniferous areas.
Individual adults begin to emerge towards the end of May. But massive replenishment of the population occurs in June-July. At the beginning of the first summer month goes by active mating. The female then lays eggs. She places them on old needles in rows of up to three dozen pieces. There are usually 4-7 such rows. If the moth invasion is massive, then fresh, just emerging needles are used.. On average, one female moth lays 80-230 eggs per season.
The egg develops in about 20 days. But in hot climates (+25C and above), this process is reduced to 8 days. The emerging caterpillars immediately begin to eat the needles with appetite. At first, they gnaw out longitudinal grooves, and as they grow, they jab the needles on both sides. The caterpillar does not touch the trunk and base. Adults eat the entire needles. During the period of its existence in caterpillar form, the moth destroys about 100 pieces of pine needles (about 3.5 kg).
Harmful insects carry out their destructive activities at night. First, last year's needles are used, then fresh needles. And so on until the deepest autumn time. L Only in October the caterpillar burrows into the litter under a tree and pupates for the winter.. With the arrival of warm weather (May-June), an adult individual emerges from the pupa and the cycle begins anew.
Photos
Fighting pine moth
A set of measures is aimed at preventing caterpillars from transforming into a pupa and then turning into an adult insect:
In autumn, all the fallen leaves, pine needles, and grass are collected in heaps.
Animals or birds (pigs, goats, chickens) are sent to the place where plant residues are collected. They rummage through piles and soil and eat insect pupae.
It will be great if there are early frosts. Most of The pupae will not tolerate the cold and will die.
For the purpose of prevention and extermination of the moth, other forest inhabitants provide invaluable help:
Birds.
Ants.
Jerzy.
Shrews and other insectivores.
If the population of pupae is too large, then chemicals or biological agents (organophosphorus, peritroids, neonicotinoids) are used.
The following measures can be taken on personal garden plots:
Digging soil under trees in the fall.
During the period of bud formation, spraying with biological preparations.
Hanging baits to attract caterpillar colonies.
Attracting birds to the site by feeding and hanging houses.
Although the moth butterfly is a beautiful insect, this is the case when beauty is deceptive. Behind its attractive appearance hides an insidious and voracious enemy of coniferous trees.
Video "Caterpillar Moth"
Beautiful lush pine trees are a wonderful decoration for a country plot or cottage. However, in last years gardeners complain that they have caterpillars appearing on pine trees, which eat the needles. In almost a few days, they turn the tree into a bare trunk with gnawed branches. You can fight caterpillars on a pine tree in order to save evergreen beauties and restore their appearance using folk recipes, chemicals.
Types of caterpillars that attack trees
On coniferous species Various pests can settle in trees, which enter the garden plots from the forest belt, through the soil, or when purchasing seedlings of spruce, cedar or pine trees.
The most common of them:
- pine moths - larvae that emerge from eggs laid by butterflies in the form of straight lines;
- the common, eastern or red sawfly, whose larvae gnaw on coniferous branches, as seen in the photo of caterpillars on a pine tree;
- pine - attacks trees in May, preferring to eat young buds and needles, which contributes to the subsequent drying of plants;
- black caterpillars - weave a web around the needles to hold them on the tree, then a leaf miner emerges from them;
- and the cone moth, whose caterpillars eat seeds and cones on pine trees;
- affects coniferous trees only in the absence of another.
Sawflies and harm from them
Most often, coniferous trees are attacked by red sawflies, which spoil the appearance of cedars, pines and spruces. Females lay a clutch of 1.5-2 thousand eggs directly under the bark, and during the summer they manage to reproduce twice.
Interesting!
Sawflies got their name for the originality of the process of laying eggs: females have a special organ that, when laying eggs, “saws through” the external tissues of a branch or leaves. In appearance, adults are similar to flies, so they are difficult to distinguish.
A characteristic sign indicating a sawfly attack is yellowing of the needles. You can determine that caterpillars have attacked a cedar, spruce or pine tree by the eggs on the needles, which look like clusters with brown capsules. The larvae mature in them, which, after emerging from the eggs, have a black or dirty green body with a flat head. When in danger, sawfly caterpillars raise the front part of their body.
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Young sawfly larvae first eat only the side parts of cedar or pine needles, causing them to dry, turn yellow and curl. If at such a moment you do not take urgent measures to destroy them with the help of insecticides and other remedies against caterpillars on pine trees, then, gradually growing up, they are able to eat the whole tree.
Considering the number of larvae in the clutch, they can not only occupy coniferous trees, but also lead to their complete drying out and death. Young seedlings dry out within 3-5 years with gradual weakening and reduction decorative properties landings, deterioration appearance landscape. It is necessary to save mountain pine and other types of coniferous trees as quickly as possible, because if they are re-infected, the plants die in the winter.
On a note!
Among coniferous species, it is most susceptible to sawfly attacks. Scots pine and some decorative types: Weymouth and Banks pines, as well as trees planted on dry sandy soil with high relief. Often caterpillars attack lonely plants. Only Crimean pines suffer less.
Fighting caterpillars
To increase the efficiency of action various methods and their preparations must be used alternately, depending on the degree of damage and the condition of the trees. Simple traditional methods allow you to fight caterpillars on the Christmas tree using mechanical methods or using baits. However, they are only effective when small quantity pests. In case of severe damage, the caterpillars can be killed only with the help of chemicals.
Traditional methods
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- Inspect trees regularly to detect larvae in time, because caterpillars eat pine more in dry and warm weather, and do not like rain.
- Carry out manual collection of larvae and caterpillars, for which you should wear gloves and safety glasses, because for protective purposes they regurgitate a certain amount of their blood, which is a strong allergen. Then all pests must be burned.
- Hang birdhouses on the territory, feed and attract birds that feed on insects and larvae: cuckoos, etc.
- Shoots and buds damaged by green caterpillars on pine trees should be removed and burned.
- Block access to pests by wrapping masking tape on tree trunks with pre-applied ant and rodent repellent glue, which is sold in gardening stores. Caterpillars that descend to become chrysalises will become stuck and die.
If the number of caterpillars is coniferous trees is too large, then the following rescue methods are used:
- Place fermentation baits that help kill caterpillars throughout the summer season.
- In case of severe damage, an old film or oilcloth is spread near the trunk, where the damaged needles are thrown, sweeping them with a broom, after which everything is burned. Next, you should spray the pine with an aqueous solution of liquid soap.
Chemicals
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Biological or insecticidal agents that are designed to destroy pests such as the pine cone moth, black and green caterpillars will help to completely get rid of caterpillars on a pine tree.
Popular insecticidal preparations:
- Actellik is an insectoacaricide that has an enteric contact effect on pests of garden and park plants using pirimiphos-methyl, which is an organophosphorus pesticide. Available in the form of ampoules or canisters with a capacity of 2 ml and 5 l, respectively. If you use it to treat a pine tree against caterpillars, then when the insects eat the needles, a dysfunction occurs nervous system, which causes their death.
- Confidor is a water-soluble preparation of contact-intestinal action, helps to get rid of pests of shrubs, trees and garden crops, contains imidacorid.
- Arrivo - affects leaf-eating insects, caterpillars on spruce and other conifers through cypermethrin poisoning.
- Bitoxibacillin is an insecticidal bacterial preparation, the main active ingredient which is an exotoxin and spores of the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis var thuringiensis, effectively destroys leaf-eating harmful insects, entering through the intestines along with the green parts of the plant. The death of pests begins after 2-3 days and lasts up to 2 weeks. It is recommended to re-treat after 7-8 days to destroy the next generation of caterpillars.
- Lepidocide is an intestinal biological product, selective against leaf-eating insects, acting with the help of microbial spores Bacillus thuringiensis var. Kurstaki. After bacteria enter the body of insects long time produce crystals that attack pests, leading to their death. Its effectiveness is high, because it can poison caterpillars on trees, and the drug is not addictive.
- Lepidobactocide is a biologically active drug used to protect forest and park plantings and agricultural crops.
Prevention of caterpillars
To prevent tree infestation by caterpillars, you should take preventive measures:
- Digging the soil at the end of autumn to destroy the pupae that burrow into the ground. The digging depth is 7-10 cm, but care must be taken near the roots so as not to damage them.
- It is recommended to plant flowers on the site that attract insects that can protect plants from pests: hymenoptera, etc.
- When planting, it is better to alternate coniferous trees with deciduous trees, which will help reduce the attractiveness of plants to female sawflies.
If on garden plot black ants and caterpillars are found on a pine tree, then only the use of protective chemicals or folk remedies will help save trees from loss of appearance and subsequent death.
Moth:
Appearance
Description of males:
- The wings measure from 30 to 38 millimeters;
- Dark comb-like antennae;
- The wings are dark brown in color, with small white or yellowish spots on them;
- Large triangular spots form at the base of the wings;
- Narrow dark body.
Description of the female:
- The wings reach a size of 32 to 40 millimeters;
- Yellow-brown bristle-like antennae;
- Rust-brown wings;
- Yellow-white spots on the upper part, dark spots on the lower part;
- Compared to the male, the chest and abdomen are much larger and thicker, and light in color.
Garden pests. Moths. Plant protection from pests:
Description of the caterpillar:
- Immediately after emerging from the egg, it reaches a size of three millimeters, completely green with a yellow head;
- Subsequently, it acquires a blue-green or yellow-green main color, having three longitudinal white stripes that extend to the head;
- Adults range in size from 22 to 31 millimeters;
- They have three pairs of legs in the thoracic region, one in the abdominal region and one more pair of legs.
Description of the doll:
- Reaches a size of 11 to 14 millimeters;
- Initially green in color, then acquires a shiny brown color;
- Has a pointed end.
Difference from other species
The pine moth differs from other relatives only in color. External characteristics resemble the fir moth.
What do pine moths eat?
Diet:
- Pine needles;
- Fir;
- Cedar.
Stages of pest development
Adults appear in forest areas at the end of May, but spread massively in mid-June and early July.
- Butterflies mate in early summer. The female lays eggs in old needles, with up to 32 eggs in one row (rows from 4 to 7). On average, the female lays from 80 to 230 eggs;
- Development takes three weeks, but under favorable warm conditions (+25 degrees Celsius) it will take eight days;
- As soon as the caterpillar hatches, it begins to eat. On initial stages gnaws longitudinal grooves in the needles, and as it grows, jagged it on both sides, without damaging the trunk and base. The adult caterpillar eats the needles almost entirely;
REFERENCE: During its entire life, the caterpillar devours about a hundred needles (3.5 kilograms).
- Feeds at night. First it destroys last year's needles, then fresh ones. And so on until late autumn. In October it descends to the ground into the litter, where the pupation process takes place. Winters there;
- Butterflies appear as soon as it arrives warm weather, in late spring and early summer. Then the cycle repeats.
Fighting methods
There are complex measures that make it possible to stop the development cycle when caterpillars turn into pupae and pupae into butterflies. What to do:
- In autumn, remove all fallen leaves, pine needles and grass litter in several piles;
- Release the pigs or goats to graze in these heaps, while digging in them they will find and eat the pupae;
- Early frosts help to significantly reduce the number of caterpillars.
Enormous assistance in pest control is provided by:
- Ants, shrews, moles, hedgehogs and other animals that feed on insects;
- A variety of birds.
Preventive measures:
- In the fall, dig up the soil near the trees to destroy caterpillars that pupate in the soil;
- Spray trees with biological products when buds appear;
- Place baits with fermenting additives on trees to attract caterpillars emerging from eggs.
ATTENTION: If the number of pupae increases significantly, treat the entire area using insecticides or biological products.
The pine moth is dangerous pest, infecting pine and other coniferous forests. Its caterpillars devour the needles, as a result the tree becomes weaker, dries out and is colonized by bark beetles and other insects. As a preventive measure against moth invasions, it is necessary to attract birds to the forests, populate anthills, and provide protection for insectivorous animals.
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