Fruit Moth - A Multi-Pest Pest

Moles are the name of all small butterflies that are active mainly in twilight and at night. They can be bright or nondescript, but they all have one thing in common - spoiling everything that their larvae feed on. One of the most common pests is fruit moth. And it is interesting that biologists under this species mean ermine fruit moth, which harms the stone fruit trees. In everyday life, this term is often used in relation to "Eaters" of dried fruit, cereals and other products. In order not to offend a single representative of the moles, consider each of them.

Fruit Moth - Garden Pest

Ermine, it’s also Hawthorn, it’s also Polyphagous - a fruit moth. Terrorizes the gardens of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, as well as North America.

Close relative apple, but unlike the latter, does not deprive itself of only one apple tree and harms plums, apricots, cherries, cherries, less often pear. It can be found on willow, ash, oak.

What does the ermine moth look like?

Recognizing this type of fruit moth is not difficult. The adult butterfly and its offspring have much in common with the apple monophage.

How to identify fruit moth:

• The wingspan of an adult is within 2 cm. The front wings are white with black contrasting splashes. If you look closely at the photo of the fruit moth, you can see that the number of spots on each wing reaches 19. The edges of the front wings are shaded by a gray tint and bordered by a rare fringe. Hind wings are gray-brown, ashy shades with dense fringe of the same color.
• The head of the imago is densely covered with hairs, which are firmly pressed in front to the forehead, and stick out like a crest on the back of the head. Antennae almost two times shorter than the front wings.
• The larva is a caterpillar that goes through three stages of maturation. The color is gray, dirty yellow shades. The head, legs and stigma are black. Larvae grow to 16 mm.
• Pupa yellow, up to 11 mm long.

On a note! Sexual dimorphism is manifested by a different genital structure.

Features of the development of fruit moths

Fruit moth overwinters, being in the larval stage. The young individual is reliably covered by a waterproof shield. The entire cold period is in diapause. With the onset of heat in the last decade of April comes to the surface. Starved caterpillars do not bother to mine leaves, do not hide from prying eyes. Lead an open lifestyle. Larvae of the first ages eat up the kidneys, skeletonize the leaf plate, and older individuals roughly gnaw the leaf along the edges.

While the larvae live collectively, getting rid of the fruit moth at this time is relatively easy. The larval stage ends in late May, early June. Having gained the required body weight, the caterpillar goes from the pupation phase. The arrangement of the pupae inside the nests is single, chaotic.

The years of adult fruit moth butterflies begin in June and lasts until the last decade of August.Like all insects from this family, adults spend the daytime on the inside of the leaves or lurking in other secluded places. Butterflies are very shy and anxious at the slightest rustle. Vigorous activity begins at dusk.

Interesting! After mating, the females lay their eggs on the bark of trees and die. During oviposition, a special substance is secreted from the glands of the female individual, which forms a flap after drying.

Larvae hatch in September. The appeared individuals feed on the shell of the egg, the bark of the trees. With the arrival of winter, they become numb.

Harm fruit moth

Due to the fact that fruit moths populate trees with numerous collectives, the harmfulness from their appearance can be significant. Green spaces, having lost leaf mass, weaken, lose their resistance to other pests. Possible decrease in productivity, frost resistance, which in turn often causes the death of the plant.

How to deal with fruit moths in the garden

Measures to combat fruit moths on a plot include agricultural activities:

• In autumn, careful cutting of dry branches, removal of dead bark, plant debris with obligatory subsequent burning is performed.
• In October and early spring, deep plowing of the roundabouts is carried out.
• In the spring, they put on hunting trunks on tree trunks or process the bark with slaked lime. Such a measure will help prevent the appearance of migratory caterpillars.
• If spider web nests are found, they are carefully cut and burned. Previously, under a tree, spread a tarpaulin or a dense canvas and, if possible, crush, manually remove all the nests of the larvae.

If the population is large, you can get rid of fruit moths by spraying with biological drugs and insecticides:

• "Fitoverm" is an environmentally friendly product representing the avermectin complex. It inhibits the nervous activity of insects, which causes paralysis and subsequent death.
• "Vertimek" is an intestinal insecticide based on abamectin.
• "Agravertin" - a drug of contact and intestinal action. Pest death occurs 2-3 days after application.
• "Oleukuprit" - used once in the spring to prevent the appearance of many pests and scab. It has a detrimental effect not only on larvae, but also on fruit moth eggs.

Fufanon, Actellik, Decis, Karate, Chlorofos, Inta-Vir are also used for processing trees.

On a note! A folk recipe will help get rid of fruit moths. Mix 100 g of dried marigold and 2.5 liters of water and boil for 1 hour. In another container, prepare a decoction of 100 g of dried wormwood and 2.5 liters of water, boil for 20-30 minutes. Cool and mix the resulting mixture. Ready-to-spray solution to spray trees during budding 2-3 times.

Moth is a pest in the kitchen

Not fruit moth appears in the apartment, but its other varieties. As they just do not call it: fruit, food, grain, cereal, potatohousehold. Mostly they all belong to the family of moths butterflies. Adults are distinguished by a nondescript gray or brown color, medium-sized. Adult individuals do not feed on anything, in contrast to the voracious larvae, which are small pink, cream-colored caterpillars.

In most cases, food moth gets into the apartment with infected cereals, dried fruits, occasionally through open windows, ventilation holes. Once in the food substrate, insects feed, develop, multiply. Flying butterflies do no harm. Their function is to postpone offspring. Damage is caused by larvae destroying food reserves, leaving excrement in them and making moves. Do not eat contaminated foods.

On a note! When you see the flying food moth in the apartment, be prepared for the fact that in any of the bags with loose food a large family of caterpillars is safely located.

Getting rid of fruit moths in an apartment is quite simple:

• A thorough audit of all stocks of cereals, dried fruits, nuts, pasta should be carried out, all stocks stocked up should be checked. If larvae are found, the food must be disposed of. If individuals did not have time to breed, some housewives save the provisions by placing it in the freezer for a day or in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
• Wash all kitchen cabinets, shelves in them, and internal surfaces with a disinfectant or a solution of vinegar.
• Adult butterflies are destroyed mechanically or through glue traps.

It is not always safe to use insecticides to hunt moths in the kitchen. Therefore, to scare away pests, they lay out cloves of garlic, peel of citrus fruits, leaves of bay leaf, walnut, dry wormwood, cotton swabs soaked in camphor oil or oil of rosemary, rosemary, basil.

In order to prevent the appearance of food moth in the apartment, the purchased loose products should be visually inspected, kept in the oven for several minutes if possible and stored in sealed containers. Moth does not like drafts, so regular ventilation of cabinets with food supplies will reduce the likelihood of a pest.