Shovels are the largest family of butterflies. To date, there are more than 30 thousand species. Most likely, this figure is not final - it will increase.
All types of scoops have thick hairs on their thick abdomen, which makes their flight seem "soft". The caterpillar scoop is a butterfly larva. They are very voracious, and therefore have a well-developed mouth apparatus of a gnawing type. On the lower lip they have glands that form a special liquid that instantly hardens in air. From such cobweb threads they weave cocoons, fasten leaves.
At the end of their development, the scoop caterpillars turn into pupae that differ in size and color. All of them are motionless, convulsive movements are possible only with the abdomen. They have an ovoid shape, covered with a dense shell.
With mass reproduction, cutworm caterpillars can cause great harm to gardens, fields, forests. For example, in Ukraine in 1924, caterpillars of the winter scoop destroyed so much bread that they could load a train 100 kilometers long.
On household plots, the caterpillar of the winter cutworm is most common. It is thick, light brown or gray, indistinguishable on the ground. This isa malicious pest of many crops: beets, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, etc. Almost everyone can eat, and at night. During the day, it hides under leaves or in the soil. During the season develops in two generations.
The scoop caterpillar can cut plants, like a bear, and eat out whole hollows in root crops. Above-ground parts of plants close to the soil can also be damaged. She does not disdain planted seeds, which is why there are big bald spots in plantings.
Cabbage, gamma scoop and many other butterflies of the Lepidoptera family also harm agriculture, and grain damages not only plants, but also harvested grain. For forest plantations, the most dangerous pine scoop, the caterpillar of which feeds exclusively on pines.
The most effective way to deal with this gluttonous pest is deep digging of the soil on a shovel bayonet, both in autumn and spring. In the summer, you need to loosen the soil more often in the aisles of crops. When you see a damaged plant, you should dig the ground around it, for sure, scoop caterpillars will be found there.
In case of mass distribution, you will have to resort to insecticidal preparations, such as Decis, Bazudin, Aktara, etc. You can take half the recommended dose and about 100 g of urea for 10 liters of water. This solution should be sprayed with plantings and the soil around them. The benefit will be double: the scoop caterpillars will die, and the plants will receive top dressing.
To reduce the number of eggs laid by butterflies, you need tothe time of their mass summer to place baits (containers with jam diluted with water). The content will have to be changed periodically, and the butterflies that have fallen will have to be destroyed.
You can use a harmless biological method - release a trichogram (an insect that destroys cutworm eggs). They are sold in specialized stores, and the number of individuals is calculated per unit of plantings. Perhaps one release of a predator-assistant will not be enough. Then after 6 days the procedure will have to be repeated.
Defeat cutworm caterpillars and save the harvest is quite realistic, especially knowing their way of life and methods of struggle.
