Scientists recommend an effective and safe weapon in the fight against dangerous garden pests
In spring and summer, gardeners rejoice at the massive flowering of fruit trees and shrubs in their backyards. However, we should not forget that to protect future fruits from damage by pests, it is necessary to fight today.
“The most widespread and dangerous pests of fruit crops are moths. One of their species is the codling moth. It is a butterfly with dark gray front wings. On its wings there are dark transverse wavy lines, and at the top there is a brown spot with a bronze sheen. The butterfly reaches 20 mm. Caterpillar is yellowish or pinkish with dark head and occipital plate. Adult caterpillars reach 12–18 mm. One caterpillar of this moth damages at least two or three fruits. Damaged fruits become wormy. Without protective measures the fruit damage by the codling moth can reach up to 80–90%, ”says Galina Polyakh, deputy head of the Rosselkhoztsentr branch in the Republic of Tatarstan.
According to scientists, the most successful method of biological control of the codling moth is an increase of entomophages on fruit trees (apple, pear, plum, etc.) in gardens and summer cottages. Trichogramma is the main means of biological control of harmful Lepidoptera on cereals, industrial crops, legumes, and vegetable crops. This is a small insect that is a natural regulator of pests. Application to fruit trees is safe and environmentally friendly. In fruit orchards, it must be applied up to the phase of the onset of fruit formation in order to protect the crop and combat other moths.
Trichograms lay their offspring in pest eggs, which allows its larvae to live and feed in someone else's egg. An adult insect lives for up to nine days, during this time it manages to destroy more than 40 pest eggs.
The introduction of this entomophage on fruit trees is carried out in two ways: manually and with the help of “drones - quadcopters".