With the advent of May in Russia begins a wonderful time when the city dress up bright green, the air is filled with a delicate aroma of apple blossom and bird cherry, and in the suburban areas growers prepare their pets for the autumn harvest.But it happens that the trees are targeted by a variety of pests and people have to join with them in the fight for the preservation of green spaces.One of the raiders - ermine moth.The insect has a number of features, each of which must be considered in the process of dealing with it.
General description
term "ermine moth" Biologists call the family Lepidoptera molevidnyh butterflies.It includes about 600 different species of insects.Their sizes are small: wingspan - from six to twenty-eight millimeters.They live such organisms mainly in the tropics, but some species are found in Russia.
Feed representatives of this family of mostly plants.Sometimes it can eat the roots, often - leaves.Larvae settle on the stem and leaves of trees, slowly entangling their cobweb.So are public nests where insects pupate in one or more cocoons gluing together.One tree can live hundreds of caterpillars.Plants often can not cope with so many residents and killed.Eating certain type of plant, moth damages the forestry and agriculture.
common types
in Russia and neighboring countries, can be found about a dozen species of ermine moths.The greatest damage to forests and gardens that cause insects, "specializing" on apple and cherry.
codling moth Ermine is found in the British Isles, Sweden and Finland, in Siberia, as well as in Korea, Japan, in some areas of Canada and the United States.Caterpillars of this moth, dark yellow with black legs and stained in some areas are also called "May the worm."
bird cherry ermine moth lives in the vast area from the Caucasus to China.As in the case of apple pest to deal with these insects is very difficult, as most chemicals are ineffective.A few years later the insects disappear due to natural factors and damaged trees are completely restored.Of course, if you have a pest resistance, this process will be greatly accelerated.Insects will cease to attack the plant in two to three years.
outbreak of the moth
in the European part of Russia ermine moth affects trees Moscow and Leningrad regions.Outbreaks of this pest activity have been observed in the early '80s, in the middle 90s.In the late 90s it suffered from the trees of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.In the early 2000s there was a mole in the Khanty-Mansiysk.In 2006, the mass reproduction of insects observed in Sweden.In 2012, the epidemic began in Irkutsk.Each year, the number of individuals increases, and this can lead to what would be infected whole gardens and pieces of scaffolding.Despite the active pest control for next summer mole back again with new force destroys the trees.Pest disappears only after several years (2 to 5).In this struggle every year should become more pronounced, as a former drugs and drugs in animals can develop immunity.
Appearance insect
ermine moth photos which you can see below, is soft, but quite beautiful appearance.In Russia live butterflies white with three to five rows of small black specks on the front wings.Hindwings grayed out as well as the lower part of the front.Their scope is 20-26 mm.Moths are nocturnal.
Caterpillars of this insect are painted in gray-yellow color, have black legs and a black head.Like the wings of butterflies, their sides are small specks.
Lifecycle
ermine moth lives a year.In late summer, butterflies lay their eggs on the trunk of the tree fodder, covering them with a shield of protective mucus.Caterpillars hatch 3-4 weeks after laying and remain under guard for the whole winter.There they feed on shell eggs and some bark.In spring, they are moving into the leaves and eat them from the inside, leaving intact outer shell.Growing up, the tracks are moving to the outer side of the sheet, creating a web of fabric over.
In late May grown caterpillars create a nest of cobwebs on the tops of the trees, which are gradually expanding.In the early summer insects pupate.Cocoons are arranged in groups in the forks of branches.By the end of June, new born butterfly.
harms
overbuilt colony of caterpillars can completely destroy a tree.But even if it does not come, apple or bird cherry, which settled ermine moth is severely damaged.Throughout his short life caterpillars destroy the leaves of the tree.First they eat away the core (parenchyma) tender young leaves, leaving only the outer shell.Without inner cells can not function leaves, photosynthesis ceases, leaves wither, turn brown and fall off.Then, under the cobweb insects continue eating crown of the tree, leaving the plant without green cover.Lishivsheesya foliage plant can not develop further, it inhibits its growth, is not able to bloom and bear fruit.Subsequently, the restoration may need more than one year.
causes of urban pest control becomes less likely to die of wood as an aesthetically unattractive appearance of plants that struck ermine moth.Photos of apple and cheremuh demonstrate how woefully out of place and they look on the city streets.
pest management
No matter how terrible was the ermine moth, methods of dealing with it there.If we make the timely processing of the affected tree, it will not be lost and will continue to bloom and bear fruit after a recovery period.The treatment may be carried out by chemical insecticides, biological products based on certain kinds of bacteria.You can also create pheromone traps to lure females moths.If the tree is not much affected, you can manually collect the nests and brownish leaves.After harvesting they should burn with caterpillars.Features
chemical treatment
Fighting ermine moth may be conducted following insecticides: Green Paris, a solution of arsenic or Bordeaux liquid.If the tree is not more than two slots may be used preparations "Lepidocide" "Danadim" "bitoksibatsillin".For private gardening is recommended to use the drug "aktellik" safely and as it is very toxic.Processing is carried out strictly trees before or after flowering!The first treatment is carried out in early May.Then pods can be harvested with flowering trees by hand.In July, once the best-treated wood, as at this time the grown birds begin to lay eggs.
Folk remedies
not only professional biologists develop means to combat pests.How to deal with ermine moth, can prompt and simple amateur gardeners.For example, some gardeners recommend to spray the trees in the following composition: a bucket of water diluted with a bag of red pepper, a pack of tobacco, one bottle of potassium permanganate is added and husks from onions and garlic.The resulting mixture should insist for three days.If you do not want to prepare a composition can be sprayed on the tree commonly Coke.
another popular method is not etched, and catching fish pests.To do this, a tree trunk is wrapped with tape sticky side out.Adhesive tape should be changed as it is filled by insects.In such a trap will fall not only ermine moth.The methods of struggle as defined above, suitable for other insects.The attack of pests on plants - a natural process, the same as the long rains or long heat.Save from any negative influences plants will help promptly organized actions.It must be remembered that the fight against pests should be kept until they are completely gone.If this is not done, the infected tree may die.After the mole will move to other, more healthy plants, leading eventually to death.
