The white moth (American) is an extremely voracious pest. It is dangerous for horticultural crops, as it destroys fresh foliage and is poorly bred. 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. It remotely resembles a cabbage, however, it is a nocturnal species, therefore it is difficult to confuse them. It is given out in small sizes: only 3-4 cm. The moth is completely white, sometimes with small black spots on the abdomen and wings. The body is covered with a thick pile, upon closer inspection, the insect can even be called beautiful.
The eggs laid by the American moth (white), very small - 0.5-0.7 mm, have a characteristic golden or yellow-green color, so it is quite difficult to find them in the foliage.
Caterpillars grow to about 3-3.5 cm. The body is velvety brown, mottled with black warts and covered with a long pile. On the sides are longitudinal yellow stripes with orange round growths.
The length of the pupae is 1, -1.5 cm. They can be recognized by a brown spider cocoon. They always winter on a certain elevation from the ground, are extremely viable and frost-resistant, withstand critical temperature extremes. It can plunge anywhere: from a gap in the bark of a tree and a residential building to things forgotten on the street.
The white moth is interesting in that in a temperate climate it brings 2 generations per year.
When to expect a pest
Butterflies begin to appear in spring, during the flowering period of apple trees. Departure continues 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 1,500 individuals.
After 10 days, caterpillars begin to appear from the masonry, which is difficult not to notice if you regularly inspect the plantings.
Why are white moths dangerous?
Strangely enough, these pests are not afraid of cabbage, turnips and other agricultural crops. Therefore, when lesions are detected on these plants, attention should be paid to cabbage and whiteflies.
The butterflies themselves are dangerous precisely with the laying of caterpillars destroying garden crops. They do not cause 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 affects more than 250 species of plants, therefore, planting the same apple tree on the site, it is worth taking immediate measures to prevent the appearance of the pest.
What happens to an affected culture
The leaf and the 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 a web. Over time, whole colonies colonize the garden culture on the site, because of which cobwebs form on the plant.
With a severe defeat, the trees do not winter well, often freeze out, because of which they lose the ability to bear fruit or die at all. Everything is aggravated by the fact that after two months of parasitization on the plant, the caterpillars pupate again and in early August the white moth, the photo from which you see in the article, goes the second wave to the garden crops that have already been damaged and have not been touched by the pest. If no measures are taken, then 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, from where it began to spread rapidly around the globe. Two factors play in her favor: the perfect adaptation of the insect to almost any conditions and the people themselves. The white moth has no natural enemies, because of the number and speed of settlement (up to 40 km of new territory per year) it displaces native pest phytophages.
People are guilty of their negligence. They leave orchard plots and vineyards, leave unprocessed shoots near 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 gardener's many years of work in just a year, not to mention the free vegetation, without which people will have to be tight in the 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 fabric or burlap between the branches. Usually caterpillars are willingly pecking 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 the help of light traps or paint branches and a tree trunk with water-based paint for garden crops, sold in specialized stores. Facilitate the search for a pest will help timely cleaning of dead bark and skeletal branches.
In some cases, the use of chemicals is encouraged. Experienced gardeners recommend the use of drugs such as Marshall, Lightning (toxic to other insects, bee owners should be careful with it), and Aktofit.
In addition, insecticides against codling moths, for example, Lepidocip, Akarin, or Fitoverm, are effective in controlling caterpillars of the American moth, since the treatment time for these pests is the same.
It is customary to carry out four sprayings per year:
- during the period of moth departure and egg laying, i.e., approximately after the flowering of the apple tree;
- about two weeks after the first treatment, at the time of the appearance of the tracks;
- two weeks later, a third spraying is carried out;
- the fourth treatment occurs in mid-September, until the next year, chemicals are not used.
If necessary, you can use the above methods or collect the tracks manually and burn them. However, after staying in a garden culture, the pest will be useful to feed the plant with vitamins or other additives to ensure a good wintering and harvest for the next year.
Do not hesitate to take action, since such delays can be fatal.