Pre-primeval acorn(Operophtera brumata) is a butterfly whose caterpillars damage the leaf buds, flowers and leaves of many fruit and ornamental trees in the spring. When the pest is numerous, it gets stiff-eaters and the tree may be stripped of almost all its leaves.Fighting the pre-prime spineis not difficult and does not require spraying. However, we have to use a clever trick. Well, the pest that causes losses in the spring must be fought in the fall!
Prepositional acne - Operophtera brumata <p
What damage is caused by the acne of the premontic?
The most harmful to plants aregreen caterpillars of the early spring flower , which feed on plants from April to mid-June. After overwintering, they hatch from eggs laid by females in the fall.
The caterpillars of the early limbare bright green and may have several light stripes running along their body. They are very light and can be carried by the wind, which makes it easier for the pest to spread. They grow up to 2.5 cm in length and have 5 pairs of legs. As the legs are only on the 6th and 10th abdominal segments,they bend in a characteristic waywhen walking, as if measuring the distance traveled. It reminds me of the shape of the Greek letter omega: Ω. Some people claim that it is turned upside down U. It looks like on the photo below: -)
Preimosa caterpillar
Fig. spacebirdy, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Caterpillars of the early spring mite bite into leaf buds and young flowers, thus weakening the flowering of trees, which in the case of fruit trees also weakens their yield. However, the most damagecaused by the caterpillars of the primeval mite can be seen on the leaves , in which a lot of holes are gnawed. When the pest is abundant, it causes pig-eaters and almost completely stripped leaves of the tree.
Holes in beech leaves are the work of caterpillars
Fig. pixabay.com
Pre-primeval acorn feeds on many deciduous trees and shrubs, both ornamental (including: birch, beech, oak, hornbeam, elm) and fruit (apple, pear, cherry and others). The highbush blueberry, which is eagerly grown in gardens, is also falling prey to the early spring.
Combating the natural part of the early spring
In spring, , when we are surprised by the numerous presence of caterpillars, it is possible to spray with contact agents to combat caterpillars , such as e.g.Deltam or Karate Zeon 050 CS (apple trees are sprayed in the green flower phase). However, we must remember that spraying performed in the spring time is very harmful to the environment and beneficial insects. First of all, they pose a threat to bees that search for nectar on flowers, but also to birds and chicks that feed on the caterpillars of the early spring flower.
Therefore it is better to use morenatural control of the early spring flower in the fall? Well, the caterpillars, after feeding in June, descend to the ground to pupate. Adult butterflies appear in October, that is in the fall.
Prepim prime moth is one of the few butterflies that fly out only in autumnHence its name - preterm (because it appears before winter). It is activated at 4-8 ° C. To see it, go to the orchard or garden late in the evening, preferably after a cloudy, rainy day, after the first frost, in late October or November.After dark, the males start their mating flight, looking for females. This mating season is a smart solution from Mother Nature, becauseat this time of the year most of the birds that could threaten the early spring of the year are gone
Adult pre-primeval moths differ significantly by gender.The male is a small butterfly with light, gray-brown wings, which span up to 3 cm. The female, on the other hand, looks more like a spider than a butterfly, and her wings are significantly reduced in favor of a large abdomen that can accommodate a huge number of eggs. During the daytime, females hide in crevices in the bark of tree trunks or in the grass under trees. When it gets dark, they migrate up the trunks and wait for males in the treetops. After fertilization, they lay their eggs in the hollows of the bark in the treetops. Soon afterwards, the females end their lives, andthe eggs hibernate until spring so that voracious caterpillars hatch again
Adult butterflies of the early winter time
Fig. Lamiot, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
And it is these migrations of the female early moth up the trunks that we can use in the process of fighting this pest. It is enoughat the turn of September and October to place sticky trapson tree trunks, which will stop wandering females.
The perfect sticky trap for female pre-primeval mothsit should be made in the form of a paper or foil funnel surrounding a tree trunk, with the narrow end pointing upwards. The bottom of the funnel is covered with adhesive. Females wandering up the trunk get under the funnel and stick, which interrupts their further journey.
However, because the construction and assembly of such funnels can be quite difficult, in practice, in gardens and allotments, we use ordinarysticky bands on tree trunksExactly the same that we used earlier in spring and summer to combat apple fruit and plum fruit. Sticky bands placed on tree trunks in the fall, apart from females of the early winter sunflower, will also stop other pests climbing on the trunks during this period, e.g.winter-trees ogołotniak or miter sawdock. It is worth keeping the bands on the trees until December, and if necessary (when they are full of pests), replace them with new ones.
Ready-made sticky bands to be put on tree trunkscan be ordered in the shop of our guide, but they should also be available in any other garden shop. I highly recommend this method to combat the primeval period naturally: -)
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Spraying with oil preparations during the leafless period(in gardens usually at the end of winter or early spring) are also helpful in combating the early spring. These sprays destroy the wintering forms of pests, such as aphids, spider mites and burrows, includingwintering spider mite eggsFor these sprays, I recommend Promanal 60 EC and Emulpar 940 EC. It is worth spraying all fruit plants and most ornamental ones. Remember to cover the shoots of trees and shrubs with the liquid very thoroughly (it should even drip from the twigs).
