Who is motley? Types of butterflies, their harm and methods of struggle

Like most butterflies, motley has an interesting coloring. But such beauty is deceptive: although adult individuals feed on nectar, their caterpillars mercilessly harm plants, mainly fruit trees. Therefore, with motley it is necessary to start the fight immediately, as soon as a bright insect was spotted on the site.

Insect description

The Motley family (Latin name - Zygaenidae) is part of the lepidoptera squad. It includes 1000 species settled throughout the globe. But still, greater diversity is noted in tropical countries, where insects feel good thanks to a warm and humid climate. In the temperate zone of the European part of the former USSR, no more than 50 species are found. Many of them are garden pests because their caterpillars feed on the leaves of fruit trees and other plants.

Speckled butterflies (almost all species) have a very bright color. Their wings are usually painted black or blue with conspicuous yellow, orange or blood red spots. Monochrome insects and with pale coloring are rare. You can see how the mottled butterfly looks in the photo.

Such a conspicuous appearance was given to mottled by nature for a reason. Like most poisonous insects, colorful coloring is a warning to potential enemies that it is not worth contacting a butterfly. It accumulates toxic compounds in its body, in particular hydrocyanic acid. Therefore, if insectivores try to feast on motley, severe poisoning can wait for them at best. Another way to protect yourself from enemies is to emit a strong odor liquid that also contains poison. Thanks to this, the motley leads a quiet life, leisurely flying from flower to flower and eating with the help of a proboscis sweet nectar.

Typically, the wingspan of the mottles is usually 4–5 cm. In the largest species, the mottles of Westwood (Elcysma westwoodii), it reaches 6 cm. Such a “giant” of the family is found in the Far East.

All motley butterflies have a long and developed proboscis, which is not covered with scales. In a small number of species, it is reduced. Antenna located on the head can be spindle-shaped, comb-like and serrated. They are crowned with maces. The insects of this family are characterized by the presence of chetozem, an accumulation of bristles on the head, which acts as an organ of sensory perception of the surrounding world.

Speckled Species

1. Motley grape is found mainly in regions located near the sea. The butterfly has dark green wings, cast in bronze in the sun. Although the insect is modest in size (wingspan is usually 2.5 cm, it is very dangerous for vineyards, which is why the species got its name. Its yellow-brown caterpillars, reaching 1.8 cm in length, settle on vines and feed on juicy leaves, causing great damage to the crop and crop.
2. The mottled clover is somewhat larger - up to 3.5 cm in wingspan. Outwardly, it is very similar to the dowell motley.It has a wide habitat - from the north of the African continent to the west of Asia in the east and European countries in the north. The main “delicacy” of caterpillars of clover mottled is the horned lamb plant, as well as its closest relatives - alfalfa and clover. Waits for the winter cold in the form of caterpillars, which with the onset of spring continue active growth and, finally, pupate. They are poisonous because hydrocyanic acid salts accumulate in their body. Butterfly activity - years - occur in the first months of summer.
3. The purple motley is also a medium-sized butterfly, the wingspan of which is from 3 to 3.5 cm. Its caterpillars, which have been in this phase of development from August to May, are chosen by herbaceous spicy plants: thyme and thyme. The motley butterfly years are from June to July.
4. Dowell motley - one of the most common species. It inhabits Europe and Western Asia, sometimes living at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. The length of the front wings is 2 cm, and the total wingspan is about 4 cm. The view was discovered in 1758. The front wings are painted black, cast with a metallic sheen. They usually have 6 (sometimes more or less) round spots of bright red color. The caterpillars of the dappled meadowsweet are not very noticeable: they are small in size and have a dense body covered with hairs. Their color is usually faded green. Cyanide compounds accumulate in the caterpillars, therefore, they represent a mortal danger for insectivores.

Common motley is easy to confuse with false motley, because they are very similar in appearance. But the second belongs to another Lepidoptera family - lat. Ctenuchidae. It has approximately 3,000 species. False common motley, like most butterflies, lead a daily life and their activity falls on June and July. These insects prefer to live in glades in deciduous forests or in meadows nearby where there are flowering plants. They sit on them, eating nectar, in small flocks.

False mottled wings are painted in dark blue, white spots are located on them: on the front - 5 or 6, and on the rear - 2 or 3. A distinctive feature of the species is the white tip of the antennae, as well as the presence of a pair of yellow stripes on the abdomen, which are called in bandages. Caterpillars of black color, with brown descent. As a plant for living, dandelions and plantains are chosen, less commonly, other herbaceous plants. Therefore, harm to human plantings, unlike true motley caterpillars, is not inflicted.

Motley butterfly life

Activity occurs in the daytime, because butterflies love to bask in the summer sun. But there are some species that fly at night. They are attracted by light sources, so on summer nights they flock to lanterns or windows. At the same time, the motley cannot be called fast insects: they fly extremely awkwardly and develop a low speed.

If you catch a motley butterfly, it pretends to be dead: they have such a protective mechanism from danger.

When the time comes to lay eggs, the spotted female sits on the underside of a leaf of a suitable plant. The formation of masonry differs in individual species: single, ordinary. A cluster of eggs, the diameter of which is from 0.4 to 0.6 mm, can be either single-layer or multi-layer.

The elongated eggs of the motley butterflies are yellow in color. This family is characterized by a grid pattern on their surface.

After about 10 days, massive spotted caterpillars appear. The first segment of the chest forms a protective “hood” into which they can pull their head in if necessary. The body of the caterpillars is also covered with “armor” of bristles on which the warts are placed. Young individuals that have just hatched from an egg gnaw leaves from the underside, leaving their skeleton. Older caterpillars are already able to gnaw it completely. The time when future butterflies leave for the winter depends on age: individuals of the first age do this at the end of July, and the second, third and fourth in August.Their pupation and subsequent transformation into a bright imago will occur in spring or early summer (depending on climatic conditions). These dates are for temperate regions. In the tropics, more than one generation of bright butterflies manages to appear in a year.

What harm does she bring?

In the spring, when the weather is warm, the caterpillars that have gone for the winter wake up. To gain the nutrients necessary for further transformation into a chrysalis and imago, they often attack gardens. Caterpillars gnaw the buds of fruit and berry crops, during their swelling and blooming, and young leaves. All this leads to a decrease in yield and poor plant health. Caterpillars that appeared in the summer also eat leaves.

Relatives of the family - mottled moths, cause great harm to apple trees and pears.

Since variegated animals do not fly long distances, the center of infection of the garden spreads on a grand scale. If you do not take measures, the number of tracks for the next year will be several, or even tens of times more.

Ways to deal with motley

In agriculture, the following motley control scheme is considered optimal, which involves the use of chemicals:

1. When the kidneys swell, the trees are sprayed with the insecticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyl trichloromethylmethane) in 5.5% concentration or hexachlorane (12%).
2. After budding, these drugs are reused.
3. In the middle of summer, when new caterpillars appeared from the eggs, only DDT is processed. To ensure that the crop is safe to eat, the procedure can be carried out only 30 (or more) days before its collection.

It will also be effective to use biological agents: for example, Entobacterin and Dendrobacillin. If the air temperature is less than 25 ° C, then they must be used in combination with pesticides. For example, with products whose component are organophosphorus components.

Natural enemies of mottled: spiders, ground beetles, predatory bugs, larvae female flies (lat. Syrphidae).

Motley is a dangerous enemy of the garden. They spread very quickly around the site, because they prefer not to fly far from the habitat. It will help them to drive out the use of chemical and biological preparations, which must be used in accordance with the scheme and safety rules.