2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The upper-sided fruit moth is a small, but at the same time, very harmful insect. It causes irreparable harm to fruit crops and contributes to a noticeable reduction in harvest volumes. These pests are especially fond of the leaves of apple trees. Fruit trees are mainly harmed by caterpillars, actively making numerous mines in the leaves. If in time to identify the appearance of these enemies on the site and immediately take appropriate measures against them, the coveted harvest will be saved
Meet the pest
Wintering of harmful caterpillars of the upper-sided fruit moth takes place mainly in cracks in the bark and under fallen leaves. With the onset of spring, a few days after departure (usually after 3 - 10 days), butterflies begin to lay eggs, which are placed on all fruit trees, without exception, near the veins on the upper sides of the leaves. At the same time, females lay only one egg on each leaf, and their total fertility ranges from fifteen to sixty eggs.
After about a week, tiny caterpillars hatch from the eggs, immediately gnawing into the leaves under the shells and making numerous passages there - mines. The size of the caterpillars is so small that at first they have more than enough food in the thickness of a single leaf. And when they grow up a little, they immediately begin to make mines in the entire thickness of the leaves - their convex passages can be easily seen even with the naked eye. By the way, the leaf shells remain completely intact.
All caterpillars go through five ages. From the first to the third age, they damage only the upper parts of the leaves, and individuals of the fourth and fifth instars do not hesitate to damage the entire thickness of the leaves. The duration of development of voracious caterpillars is directly dependent on the air temperature - the warmer the weather, the more actively they will develop. As a rule, the average duration of their development is from one to one and a half months.
Caterpillars pupate in the mines they form. Pupae of the first generation usually develop from two weeks to a month, while the development of summer pupae takes only five days to two weeks.
The last generation of caterpillars goes to winter in fallen leaves, continuing to remain in their own mine passages. And when buds begin to bloom in the spring, the pests will begin to pupate, and just before flowering, many harmful butterflies can be seen on the site.
How to fight
In the fall, it is necessary to collect and quickly burn all the fallen leaves - since the caterpillars remain to winter in the passages made in the leaves, the bulk of them will be immediately destroyed. And the tree bark must be cleaned of dead particles and mosses. It will be useful to whitewash the trunks thoroughly.
With the onset of spring, when the buds swell, but before the fruit trees bloom, the trees begin to be treated with insecticides, carrying out treatments at short intervals (each drug has its own intervals, so you need to carefully read the information contained in the instructions). Perfect for Metathion, Zolon, Cyanox or Phosphamide treatments. You can also use "Chlorophos", "Nexion", "Metaphos" or "Karbofos". True, the bulk of the above drugs give the best result only when fighting young caterpillars.
From moth butterflies, fruit trees are often sprayed with "Oleocobrite" or "Nitrafen". With such treatments, it is necessary to have time to keep within before bud break.
Throughout the growing season in the summer, you should carefully examine the foliage for the presence of leaves twisted and entangled in cobwebs - if any, they are immediately removed and burned. You should also neutralize the found caterpillar colonies and their spider nests.
As for pheromone traps, they, as a rule, are used exclusively to determine the start of summer of harmful butterflies.
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