Any representative of conifers , especially pine, always looks spectacular and attractive. And only some errors in care can worsen the appearance of trees and their condition. Considerable damage is caused by various pests. We'll tell you about what caterpillars eat pine and how to fight them.
Pests of pine - caterpillars
In fact, a beautiful pine can be overcome by a variety of caterpillars. Most gardeners complain that the needles and shoots of pine eat caterpillars of gray color with red hairs. This is one of the most dangerous pests of conifers - a pine silkworm. Its caterpillars can reach a length of up to 10 cm. The pest first settles on the edges of the needles, and then devours it to the very bottom. These gray caterpillars feed on the pine not only with needles, but also with young shoots, depriving the tree of the annual growth. Mass spread of the pest can lead to the disease of the tree, its drying out and subsequently to death. By the way, on average, one caterpillar eats up to 150 needles during the autumn.
In addition, it is sometimes possible to find green caterpillars on a pine. Such a wrecker is called a pine spade. It can be found on pine branches from the middle of summer to the end of September. Adult representatives of the pest can reach 2-3 cm: on their body, you can distinguish and five yellow longitudinal strips. They, like the pine silkworm, eat the ends of the needles, and then the needles completely, leading to the drying of the tree. Weakened pine often becomes a place of "settlement" of other pests.
Among the pests of the pine one can find black caterpillars. Biologists call them pine sawmills. The larvae have black heads and a greenish-white corpuscle with black longitudinal bands and spots. Like the caterpillars described above, the pine sawmill also feeds on needles, gnawing it first along the edges, and then eating it completely, making the tree vulnerable and sick.
How to deal with caterpillars on a pine tree?
Measures to combat caterpillars on pine trees include various measures, including preventive ones. The most effective method, really allowing to save plantations, is spraying with special compounds. The procedure is carried out at a time when there is an active hatching of the caterpillars from the eggs. For the pine sawmill this period comes to the end of June, for the moth of the pine - for May, for the sawmill of the pine - in the middle of July. Among the chemicals used insecticides, that is, pyrethroids or organophosphate drugs. They include "Decis" or "Actelik". And similar means can be helped by spraying with a solution of carbophos, which is taken on a bucket of water of 10 g. This is certainly extreme measures for a large lesion of the tree.
If the caterpillars are not found in large numbers, spraying with biopreparations is successful. The choice is wide enough, use one that will be available in your locality: "Fitoverm", "Lepidocide", "Bitoxybacillin" and others.
On the sale you can also find various traps. Their action is based on the action of attracting substances - pheromones. Under their influence caterpillars rush to the bait and remain in them. The gardener only has to destroy the pests. Also there are adhesive strips, which are fixed on the trunk and large branches of pine.
Prevention of pest-caterpillars includes annual activities. For example, in the autumn it is recommended that a digging of the trunks of pine trees be carried out in order that puppies pupating in the ground die. In the spring, the crown is treated with insecticidal preparations (spraying) and whitewash.