White moth (American) is an extremely voracious pest. It is dangerous for horticultural 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 deal with it.
Description
This pest is a polyphage. It vaguely resembles cabbage, but this is a nocturnal view, so it is difficult to confuse them. It is given out by its small size: only 3-4 cm. The moth is completely white, sometimes with small black spots on the abdomen and wings. The body is covered with thick hair, upon closer examination, the insect can even be called beautiful.
The eggs laid by the American moth (white) are very small - 0.5-0.7 mm, have a characteristic golden or yellow-green color, so it is rather difficult to find them in the foliage.
Caterpillars grow up to about 3-3.5 cm. The body is velvety brown, mottled with black warts and covered with a long pile. On the sides there are longitudinal yellow stripes with orange round growths.
Length of pupae - 1, -1,5 cm. They can be recognized by their brown cocoon. They always hibernate at some elevation from the ground, are extremely viable and frost-resistant, withstand critical temperature changes. It can pupate anywhere: from a gap in the bark of a tree and a residential building to a thing forgotten on the street.
The white moth is interesting because in temperate climates it brings 2 generations a year.
When to expect a pest
Butterflies begin to appear in the spring, during the flowering of apple trees. Departure continues until June (or July in the absence of extreme heat). At this time, pests lay their 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 are difficult to miss if you regularly inspect the plantings.
Why are white moths dangerous?
Cabbage, turnips 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 whites.
The butterflies themselves are dangerous precisely because of the clutches of caterpillars that destroy garden crops. They do not cause any other harm, and if there are no cultivated trees and shrubs on the site, you should not be afraid of them.
However, the caterpillar of the American moth is extremely picky in food: it infects more than 250 plant species, therefore, when planting the same apple tree on the site, you should immediately take measures to prevent the appearance of the pest.
What happens to the affected crop
Leaf and branch, on which the white night moth made a masonry, after the appearance of caterpillars, are slowly covered with viscous translucent threads that look like cobwebs. Over time, whole colonies populate the horticultural crop on the site, due to which cocoons of cobwebs form on the plant.
When severely affected, trees winter poorly, often freeze out, due to which they lose their ability to bear fruit or die altogether. Everything is aggravated by the fact that after a two-month parasitism on the plant, the caterpillars pupate again and in early August the white moth, the photo from which you see in the article, comes in the second wave to garden crops already damaged and not yet affected by the pest. If no action is taken, 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 attack came from North America, from where it began to spread rapidly around the globe. Two factors play in its favor: the excellent adaptation of the insect to almost any conditions and the people themselves. The white moth has no natural enemies, due to the number and speed of settlement (up to 40 km of new territory per year) it displaces native phytophage pests.
People are guilty of their negligence. They abandon garden plots and vineyards, leave uncultivated shoots along the roads and do not carry out any mass quarantine measures, creating ideal conditions for the reproduction of the insect. Thisa not very large white moth is capable of ruining many years of work of a gardener in just a year, not to mention free vegetation, without which people will have a hard time in polluted areas of various cities.
American Moth Control Methods
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 would be to cut off the damaged branches and burn them.
In addition, the pest can be deceived by hanging pieces of cloth or burlap between the 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 horticultural paint sold in speci alty stores. Timely cleaning of dead bark and skeletal branches will help facilitate the search for the pest.
In some cases, the use of chemicals is encouraged. Experienced gardeners advise using drugs such as Marshal, Lightning (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 codling moth, for example, Lepidocip, Akarin or Fitoverm, are effective, since the processing times for these pests are the same.
It is customary to spend fourspraying per year:
- during the period of the emergence of the moth and the laying of eggs, i.e., approximately after the flowering of the apple tree;
- about two weeks after the first treatment, at the time of the appearance of caterpillars;
- third spraying in two more weeks;
- the fourth treatment occurs in mid-September, no chemicals are used until next year.
If necessary, you can use the above methods or collect the caterpillars by hand and burn them. However, after a pest has been on a horticultural crop, it will be useful to feed the plant with vitamins or other additives to ensure a good wintering and next year's harvest.
Do not hesitate to take action, as such delays can be fatal.
