All about the moth

The family of moth butterflies includes more than 20 thousand species. These insects can cause significant damage to both wild and cultivated agricultural plants. We will talk about the main features of this butterfly and how to deal with it in our review.

Among gardeners and gardeners, the moth is better known as the "surveyor". It is distinguished by a weak, rather narrow body combined with wide wings. Their scope can reach up to 5 cm, although in most cases it is limited to 2.5-3.5 cm. The color is discreet, usually corresponds to the habitat of this insect - thus, effective camouflage of the butterfly in the external environment is ensured.

The butterfly has no eyes. For orientation, insects have a special organ capable of capturing and recognizing the direction of air currents and their sound vibrations. Thanks to this organ, moths analyze their environment and communicate with each other. Spiracles are located on the sides of the body of this butterfly. On inhalation, oxygen enters special breathing tubes and from there, through an extensive network of tracheas, it is delivered to all tissues and organs.

The mouth apparatus of butterflies is not adapted to solid food. They are able to consume exclusively flower nectar. Harder food, such as stems and leaves, cannot be gnawed by their weak proboscis. Therefore, an adult butterfly is not dangerous for plants, it does not cause them any harm. Moreover, the moth participates in the pollination process and thus benefits the cultivated plantings.

Indirect sabotage of the moth consists in laying eggs, from which numerous offspring of active and very voracious larvae hatch. The caterpillar of this butterfly lives on the branches, it can be identified by its characteristic features:

• body length 5-8 cm;

• the abdominal legs are located on the seventh and ninth segments of the abdomen, this arrangement is characteristic exclusively for this type of insect.

The caterpillar moves in a loop. When moving, she bends the middle part of her body, presses the abdominal legs to the pectoral ones, and then, fixing herself, pulls the body forward. From the outside, it looks like she is taking measurements of the earth. By the way, it was this characteristic movement that became the reason for the unusual name of the insect - in a similar way, the distance between objects is calculated with the help of fingers (spans).

Caterpillars tend to change color depending on the external environment. They disguise themselves as the bark of trees or the color of the leaves, thus manifesting the industrial melanism of the insect.

The larvae are very voracious, they eat leaves, stems, as well as buds and buds of the plant. Most varieties are omnivorous and do not limit their diet to one single crop. At the same time, they eat at night at different times of the year - in spring, and in summer, and in autumn.

By eating important plant fragments, the larvae cause significant damage to bushes and trees. Their invasion significantly reduces the yield and degrades the quality of the fruit.They multiply in flashes, so it sometimes takes more than one year to restore the damage they inflicted.

In total, the family of moth butterflies has over 23 thousand species. Of these, only 2.5 thousand live on the territory of the former Soviet Union - common, white-striped, fringed, heather, sailing, emerald, variegated, smoky, night, lilac, autumn, magnificent, blue, larch, apple, edged, ruled, elm, as well as purple, crested, currant and others. Among them there are quite a few of those that damage cultivated plants, stop their growth and reduce productivity. Here are just a few of them.

Pine - a small butterfly with an inconspicuous color that disguises it well against the background of the bark of coniferous trees... Wings are gray with black, white or brownish zigzag spots. The larvae are green in color. They feed mainly on needles.

Birch is one of the most unusual butterflies. This insect can synthesize a dark pigment, which makes its coloration as close as possible to the trunk of a birch. On the outer part of the wings, spots are noticeable, due to which the moth almost merges with the tree. The larvae of this variety can feed not only on birch, they also like alder and hazel.

Tailed - this insect is ubiquitous in the western regions of Eurasia... Its characteristic feature is the presence of tiny, almost invisible tails on the hind wings. The young moth has a rich yellowish lemon hue. However, as they grow older, the paint begins to fade, and it acquires a creamy color. Caterpillars and pupae are colored brown, they are distinguished by characteristic projections resembling cones.

Sorrel is a small butterfly of an unobtrusive beige color with a brown-purple border on the wings. The insect prefers to gnaw sorrel and buckwheat, usually a butterfly can be found in areas with high humidity. During the growing season, it gives two generations. Caterpillars have a rich dark purple color, a light strip runs along the back.

Clover - such a butterfly has a wide habitat, so its shapes and colors are quite variable. The shade of the wings can vary from white to yellow.

Floral - the wings of this butterfly are gray, slightly brownish with brownish spots and stripes. The caterpillar is pale green, with a red stripe running along the back. The pest affects hawthorn, barberry, thorny, and fruit trees.

The black moth is found mainly in wooded areas. It feeds on chestnuts, head over heels and some other plants. This is a small insect, the wingspan of which does not exceed 1.5 cm. The butterfly is completely black, only at the corners of the upper wings is a white border visible.

Fir - most often such an insect is found in Siberia, it also lives in the Far East. This butterfly has light gray wings dotted with irregular light lines. The larvae are brown, outwardly very reminiscent of a dry branch.

Gooseberry is one of the brightest and most colorful representatives of the moth butterflies. The head and back of this insect are yellow with brown spots resembling the letter "T". Black and yellow stripes are visible on the lower wings. The caterpillars are smart too. As the name implies, such pests prefer to attack gooseberries, although they often encroach on the branches of currants, apple trees, plums and peaches.

Winter - the body and wings are gray, transverse black stripes are visible on the wings... Caterpillars of such insects give preference to pome and stone fruit plants.

Stripped is a brown butterfly, depending on the habitat it can have a green or beige tint... A pair of wavy stripes are visible on the wings. The larvae destroy the buds, buds and leaves of many fruit trees (apple, sweet cherry, plum, mountain ash), many do not hesitate to feast on rose hips, maple or birch.

Large green is one of the largest species of butterflies, its wingspan reaches 5 cm. Pupted insects are distinguished by a rich green color with white stripes. Butterflies are a great danger to all deciduous trees, especially birch and hazel. Caterpillars are long, can reach 30 cm.

Mulberry - such moths are localized mainly in Central Asia. The body and wings are inconspicuous, have a brownish tint.

When a moth appears, the fight against a pest should be started as soon as possible. Otherwise, these voracious insects can negate all efforts to obtain a good harvest. The choice of methods for dealing with a butterfly directly depends on the type of pest and the extent of the lesion.

Mechanical methods for destroying the moth are the most gentle, but at the same time very laborious. They include several activities.

• Manual collection of caterpillars - for this, early in the morning, the pests are shaken off onto the prepared bedding, and then destroyed.
• Masonry warning - in order to prevent the laying of eggs by females, in late August - early September, special traps-belts are placed on the trunks of fruit trees. It can be as usual sticky tape against flies, and car tire circles and even paper rings, smeared with non-hardening glue. At the end of autumn, the traps are removed and burned.

If there are too many insects on the site, then it makes sense to turn to insecticidal agents. The use of chemicals involves the treatment of plants with compositions based on neonicotinoids, organophosphorus compounds or pyrethroids. You can buy them in any shop for gardeners and gardeners.

However, this method cannot be called environmentally friendly in any way, therefore it can only be used in spring before flowering. Such solutions as "Karbofos", "Zologna", as well as "Neoxin", "Decis" and "Fitoverm" have recommended themselves best of all.

If the use of chemicals is not possible, it is worth resorting to folk remedies. Of course, they are not as effective, but they do not harm the environment. The following recipes are most widely used.

• Bitter pepper. Pour 100 g of finely chopped pepper with a liter of cold water, put on fire, bring to a boil and boil for about 40-60 minutes. After that, let it brew for 3 days. Before use, knead the pepper, filter and add water to 10 liters. The resulting composition is sprayed with plantings.

• Tansy... The tansy is dried and then thoroughly crushed to a powder state. The resulting composition is used to dust the plants in need of treatment.

• Burdock... Burdock leaves are finely chopped, placed in any bulk container (bucket or barrel), filling about a third of the total volume. Then pour it with cool water, leave it to brew for three days, add a little soap and spray it.

Everyone knows that disease is easier to prevent than to cure. In the case of the moth, this rule works 100%. In order to minimize the risk of pests, special attention must be paid to preventive measures. It is very important to timely collect and destroy all the fallen leaves under the trees, especially those entangled in cobwebs - they are very often inhabited by the moth moth pupae.... Periodically, you should dig up the soil in the near-trunk circle, this is done both in autumn and summer.

An important role is played by loosening the surface layers of the substrate in the spring, before the beginning of May, and in the fall, from the beginning of September until the onset of frost, to prevent pupation. All dead bark and moss must be removed from the trunk in a timely manner. Plants should be whitewashed in March and October.

The use of natural biological enemies gives a good effect... These include tahini flies as well as parasitic insects. In order to lure them to your garden plots, you need to plant clover, ornamental onions, phacelia or sunflowers.