2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The alfalfa scoop is most harmful to alfalfa, soybeans, and flax, but it is also common for cereals and maize. The main harm is caused by the voracious caterpillars of the alfalfa moth, which eat up seeds and devour leaves, which in turn inevitably leads to a decrease in the yield of agricultural crops. Therefore, it is very important to find this nice intruder on the site in a timely manner and make every effort to get rid of her as soon as possible
Meet the pest
The alfalfa moth is a harmful butterfly, reaching 30 - 38 mm in size. Its front wings are painted in greenish-grayish tones with a slight yellowish tinge and are endowed with kidney-shaped spots and a wavy band of dark color with a small spot above its anterior margin. On average, its wingspan reaches 28 - 32 mm. The pest's breast is covered with grayish hairs, and its antennae are threadlike. Dark gray abdomens acquire a rusty-brown color closer to the tips.
The eggs of the alfalfa moth are ribbed and rather large. They are slightly cut off at the bases and reach a length of 0.5 - 0.6 mm. Newly laid eggs are white, and a little later they acquire a greenish-yellow color (sometimes bright orange). Alfalfa moth caterpillars grow up to 40 mm in length and are fairly light in color with dark hairs and dots. Sometimes they are also auburn, but in any case, they will be lighter on the lower sides than on the upper ones. The heads of harmful caterpillars are yellowish, covered with black spots and dots. The size of the pupae is about 20 mm. As a rule, they are yellowish-brown or reddish, occasionally with a slight greenish tint. The wrinkled body of the pupae is equipped with a pair of tubercles on the sides. They usually hibernate in the soil.
Years of moths of the first generation fall in May, and the second in June. After the females are additionally saturated with flower nectar, they begin to lay eggs on the stems and leaves of plants (usually one egg at a time). The total fertility of females often reaches seven hundred eggs. And the lack of flowers and drought contribute greatly to their sterility.
The embryonic development of gluttonous parasites lasts from five to nine days. Hatched caterpillars feed and develop for 19 - 33 days. They mainly damage the aboveground parts of vegetation. Pupation of caterpillars of the first generation takes place in the soil at a depth of two to four centimeters, and the duration of the pupal stage in the first generation is ten to seventeen days. Caterpillars of the second generation pupate at a depth of six to nine centimeters in the soil and feed on a huge number of various wild and cultivated plants. In the steppe and forest-steppe zones, the development of the alfalfa moth is observed in two generations.
How to fight
Sowing sunflowers, beets, flax and other crops at an early date would be a good preventive measure against the alfalfa scoop. All crops must be regularly cleared of weeds, and deep fall plowing and disking is recommended in areas populated with alfalfa moths. During the period of mass egg-laying of harmful parasites, inter-row cultivation of row crops is also carried out.
If there are a couple of caterpillars for every square meter of crops grown, the crops are sprayed with insecticides. The use of various viral and bacterial preparations and the use of poisoned baits are also allowed.
In the phase of budding and stalking of alfalfa testes, treatments with "Zolon", "Fufanon", "Karbofos" or "Bazudin" are carried out. And at the stage of flowering of seed alfalfa against young caterpillars, spraying with "Bitoxibacillin" is carried out. After ten days, this treatment must be repeated.
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