Pine moth: appearance, features and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Pine moth belongs to the family of insect pests living in Russia. Because of its attachment to coniferous forests, it received such a name, and regardless of the region of habitat. These insects are distributed throughout the country. If mass invasions occur, then this butterfly population remains in the selected area for a long time.

Characteristics at different stages of development

There are several types of moths, but most of all, pine is similar to fir, which has yellowish-grayish wings with brown spots.

Butterflies of this family differ in color from each other, and the structure is almost all the same. The appearance of the pine moth: the body looks like a slender thin stick, the upper wings are slightly raised up, and the hind wings are rounded. Butterfly Development Shapes:

Caterpillar. A green caterpillar with a yellow head hatches from the egg, the size of which is approximately three millimeters. Further, it acquires a yellow-green or blue-green color, and three longitudinal stripes appear throughout the body and head. When the caterpillar reaches 30 mm, then it has three pairs of legs, which are respectively located on the breast, peritoneum and there is one false rear pair.
Chrysalis. At this stage it is green in color, but during the transformation the color becomes brown with a brilliant tint.
Female. The wingspan is approximately 35 mm. The wing is brown with a hint of rust, in the upper part there are small spots of yellowish-white color, and in the lower part they are dark. The chest and belly of females are larger than those of males. The females also have brown-yellow antennae.
Male. Its wings are somewhat smaller and, as a rule, brown with white or yellow speckles, and a triangular spot can be traced at the base of the wings. The body is slim.

What does the pine moth eat?

This butterfly loves pine needles. In exceptional cases, it can feast on cedar, fir, spruce or any other species. It affects forests, parks and household plots. In general, butterflies like low-lying plains with high or medium moisture content. The butterfly breeds, as a rule, in the heat, and if the summer season is also dry, this leads to a huge and rapid population growth.

Further, in the event of a warm autumn, the pine moth is capable of destroying colossal coniferous spaces. It is known that in the period from 1940 to 1944year there was a massive invasion of butterflies throughout the European part of the country. They destroyed the crowns of pines, weakened many other trees that could not resist the attack of bark beetles and barbels, which ultimately led to very unpleasant consequences. Parasites gnawed plants up and down. After two years, such trees become unsuitable for industrial use.

Stages of biological development

Mating occurs in the first month of summer. Huge replenishment of the offspring of the pine moth, as a rule, occurs in June-July. The female lays eggs and places them in rows on old needles, about thirty at a time. On average, four to seven rows are obtained. If there are a lot of butterflies, for example, during invasions, egg clutches can also be located on the needles that have just appeared. As a rule, the female lays from 80 to 230 eggs during one season. About twenty days are required for their development, but if the summer is hot, then this process is reduced to eight days.

As soon as a caterpillar hatches from an egg, it immediately begins to feed on needles, gnawing out longitudinal grooves. As it grows, it eats needles on both sides, it does not touch the base and trunk. Sexually mature individuals eat the entire needles. While the butterfly is in the caterpillar stage, it absorbs about a hundred needles, which is about 3.5 kg. Insects feed mainly at night. First they destroy the old, and then the new needles. This process continues until late autumn. Beginningsince October, the caterpillar hides in the litter, which is located under the tree, and pupates for the winter. From the beginning of May - June, the pupa turns into an adult.

Fight against moths

In order for the caterpillars not to turn into butterflies, preventive measures should be taken. The main control measures for the pine moth include the following:

If there are too many pupae, then chemical preparations or biological agents are used to destroy them.
In the autumn period, it is necessary to collect all the fallen leaves and needles in heaps, which will be visited by birds and animals. Digging into them, they are happy to eat the pupae of the pine moth.
In household plots, it is recommended to dig up the ground around trees in autumn.
Attract birds by hanging baits.
During the formation of buds on coniferous plants, treat them with special biological preparations.

Early frosts will also contribute to the death of the main part of the offspring. Other inhabitants of the forests also provide great assistance in their destruction: hedgehogs, birds, ants and other representatives of insectivores.

Pine moth - consumer or decomposer?

Different groups of organisms have different functions within the same ecosystem. All of them are divided into three groups:

Producers, or manufacturers. These include some types of bacteria and plants that produce organic compounds from inorganic compounds.material.
Consumers, or consumers of organic substances produced by producers.
Decomposers - destroyers of organic substances to simple inorganic compounds.

The second and third live off the substances created by the producers. The moth feeds on needles and belongs to the group of consumers. And who eats pine moth? It is massively destroyed by badgers, foxes, birds, spiders and ants.

Interesting facts about butterflies

Receptors that are responsible for taste are located on the paws.
Butterflies, like elephants, eat with their proboscis.
Butterfly eyes are made up of a thousand faceted elements.
In China, India, as well as in South America, butterflies are eaten.
They are missing a heart.
Butterflies can only distinguish three colors: green, yellow and red.
The exoskeleton of insects is localized outside, the internal organs, respectively, are inside it.
In China, these insects are a symbol of love.

Conclusion

Pine moth is a very beautiful insect. However, behind its attractive appearance lies a voracious enemy that is capable of destroying entire coniferous arrays.

The damage that these pests cause is certainly great. If the tree fails to restore the needles after repeated eating of the crown by caterpillars, then it begins to weaken and dry out. Followed by butterflies at himpests attack and contribute to its final death.