Cute Goldtail

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Goldtail is a big lover of shelter plantations and fruit crops. Most often, it harms thorns, pears, oak, apricot and apple, and a little less often white acacia, Tatar maple, birch bark and some other deciduous species suffer from its attacks. By the way, you can meet this pretty scoundrel almost everywhere. That is why it is extremely important not only to know the enemy by sight, but also to be aware of the main measures to combat him

Meet the pest

The goldtail is a very cute butterfly with wingspan ranging from 30 to 40 mm. The breasts, wings and abdomens of pests are painted white, and on the tips of their abdomens you can see funny tufts of hairs: in males, the hairs are brown, and in females, golden. And the yellow comb antennae give a special charm to the golden-tails.

Rounded eggs of golden-tails reach a diameter of about 0.5 mm and are characterized by a light color. And the black caterpillars growing up to 35 - 40 mm are endowed with bunches of brown hairs and many warts. On the sides of their bodies, you can see two intermittent white stripes, and along the backs - two black stripes. And on the ninth and tenth segments of the bodies of the pests, there is one red wart each - they contain the excretory ducts of the glands. As for the first two segments of the abdomen, upon close examination, you can see poisonous hairs equipped with cavities - in them, the glands secreting poison are opened. If such hairs get on human skin, then severe irritation is guaranteed. Black-brown pupae, up to 12 mm in size, are located in grayish loose cocoons. Their body is covered with reddish hairs, and the cremasters are equipped with bizarre hook-shaped bristles.

The wintering of caterpillars of the second and third centuries takes place in winter nests built from leaves, tightly fastened at the tips of the shoots with a strong cobweb. Each nest is divided into several separate chambers, in which the caterpillars are located. When the buds begin to bloom in the spring, these parasites will leave their shelters and go to feed first on the buds, and some time later on the leaves. According to studies, approximately 2,400 - 2,500 harmful caterpillars are capable of 100% destruction of foliage from a tree with a trunk diameter of twenty to sixty centimeters without much difficulty.

The lower threshold of development for voracious caterpillars is considered to be a temperature of twelve degrees, and they will develop best at temperatures from twenty-six to twenty-eight degrees. The total duration of development of caterpillars is from thirty to forty days: during this period, females manage to pass as many as six centuries, and males only five. Approximately in late May or early June, pests begin to pupate singly or in groups. Their pupation occurs in loose cocoons on the bark, in the middle of the foliage, in branched branches, and sometimes on the grass.

Fifteen to twenty days later, the flight of butterflies starts, which do not need additional food at all and are most active in the evenings or at night. After a while, they begin to lay eggs, placing them on the lower surfaces of the leaves in the form of small rollers and covering them with funny golden hairs from their own abdomens. Each clutch usually contains two to three hundred eggs. As for embryonic development, it takes fifteen to twenty days. The reborn caterpillars try to stick together - they ruthlessly skeletonize the leaves, pulling them into dense nests with the help of cobwebs, and upon reaching the second and third centuries, the caterpillars remain inside these nests until next spring. Only one generation of gold-tails develops per year.

How to fight

It is recommended to attract insectivorous birds to the gardens to protect yourself from golden-tails. For example, in summer, orioles with cuckoos willingly feed on caterpillars, and in winter, jays with titmouses will not refuse to feast on pests. And if at least a couple of winter nests are found on each tree, then during the mass start of active feeding of caterpillars, the affected plantings begin to be treated with insecticides or biological products. In addition, winter nests can be harvested by hand (with pruning shears) and burned immediately.

Outbreaks of mass breeding of golden-tails periodically contain various viral, bacterial and fungal diseases. Entomophages are also good helpers in reducing their numbers - more than ninety species, including ten species of tahin flies.