Moth white - pest in the garden

White moth (American) - extremely voracious pest. It is dangerous for garden crops, as it destroys fresh foliage and is difficult to remove. Therefore, many summer residents are concerned about the question of how to recognize this inconspicuous butterfly and fight it.

Description

This pest is a polyphage. He remotely resembles a cabbage, but this is a night view, so it's difficult to confuse them. It is given a small size: only 3-4 cm. The moth is completely white, sometimes with black small spots on the abdomen and wings. The body is covered with a thick pile, on closer inspection the insect can even be called beautiful.

Eggs, which lay the American moth (white), very small - 0,5-0,7 mm, have a characteristic golden or yellow-green color, because it is quite difficult to find them in the foliage.

Caterpillars grow to about 3-3.5 cm. The body is velvety brown, covered with black warts and covered with long nap. On the sides there are longitudinal yellow bands with orange round outgrowths.

The length of the pupae is 1, -1.5 cm. They can be recognized by the arachnoid cocoon of brown color. Always winter at some elevation from the earth, extremely viable and frost-resistant, withstand critical temperature changes. Pupation can be anywhere: from a crack in the bark of a tree and a residential building to a thing forgotten on the street.

Moth white is interesting because in conditions of moderate climate it brings 2 generations per year.

When to expect a pest

Butterflies begin to appear in the spring, during the flowering period of apple trees. Departure lasts until June (or July in the absence of intense heat). At this time pests lay eggs on the lower part of the leaves of garden trees and shrubs, while one female can become a distributor of about 1500 individuals.

After 10 days caterpillars begin to appear from the masonry, which it is difficult to notice if you regularly inspect the planting.

Why are white moths dangerous?

Cabbage, turnip and other crops, these pests, oddly enough, are not terrible. Therefore, if damage is found on these plants, attention should be paid to cabbage and whitewash.

But butterflies themselves are dangerous precisely for the laying of caterpillars, which destroy garden crops. They do not cause other harm, and if there are no cultivated trees and bushes on the site, they should not be afraid.

However, the caterpillar of the American moth is extremely uncomfortable in food: it affects more than 250 plant species, therefore, when planting the same apple tree on the site, it is necessary to immediately take measures to prevent the appearance of the pest.

What happens to the affected culture

The leaf and branch, on which the white night moth made the masonry, after the appearance of the caterpillars, are slowly covered with viscous translucent threads that look like cobwebs. Over time, the garden culture on the site is inhabited by entire colonies, because of which the plant produces cocoons of cobwebs.

In severe lesions, trees do not hibernate well, they often become frozen, because of which they lose their fertility or die at all. Everything is aggravated by the fact that after a two-month parasitism on the plant, the caterpillars again pupate and in early August the white moth, the photo from which you see in the article, is the second wave on the already damaged and still unaffected garden crops. If you do not take any measures, this process will be virtually endless and will serve to spread the American moth to many hectares around.

Where did this pest come from?

This misfortune came from North America, where it began to spread rapidly across the globe. Two factors play its role in its favor: perfect adaptation of the insect to almost any conditions and the people themselves. The white moth does not have natural enemies, because of the number and speed of settlement (up to 40 km of new territory per year) displaces aboriginal pests-phytophagous.

People are guilty of their negligence. They abandon orchards and vineyards, leave unprocessed shoots at the roads and do not conduct any mass quarantine measures, creating ideal conditions for the reproduction of the insect. This not very large white moth is able to ruin the perennial works of the gardener in just a year, not to mention the free vegetation, without which people will have to tightly in the polluted areas of different cities.

Methods to combat the American moth

The recommended measures depend on the degree of infection of the plant. For example, if there are few lesions - from 4 to 7 per tree, the best solution is to cut the damaged branches and burn them.

In addition, the pest can be tricked by hanging pieces of cloth or burlap between branches. Usually caterpillars willingly peck at such a bait. Therefore, when the time comes, it will be enough to remove the tissue with the pupated pest and burn it.

You can also try to catch a moth with light traps or paint the branches and trunk of a tree with water-based paint for garden crops sold in specialized stores. To facilitate the search for a pest will help timely cleaning of dead cortex and skeletal branches.

In some cases, the use of chemicals is welcomed. Experienced gardeners are advised to use drugs such as "Marshal", "Molniya" (toxic to other insects, bee owners should be careful with it) and "Aktofit".

In addition, in the fight against caterpillars of the American moth, insecticides against the moth are effective, for example, Lepidotsip, Akarin or Fitoverm, since the processing times for these pests coincide.

It is customary to conduct four sprayings per year:

• During the re-emergence of the moth and the laying of eggs, that is, approximately after the flowering of the apple tree;
• Approximately two weeks after the first treatment, at the time of appearance of the caterpillars;
• In another two weeks a third spraying is carried out;
• The fourth treatment falls on the middle of September, until next year chemical preparations are not used.

If necessary, you can use the above methods or collect the caterpillars manually and burn them. However, after staying in the garden culture of the pest, it will be superfluous to feed the plant with vitamins or other additives to ensure a good winter and harvest for the next year.

Do not hesitate to take action, because such delays can be fatal.