What whites harm plantings and how to deal with them?

Butterflies such as whites can do a lot of trouble in the garden. The fact is that their caterpillars prefer to eat the juice of plants, including cabbage and turnips. Therefore, the appearance of this pest on the site should be a signal to the beginning of active action to combat it.

Insect description

Belyanki is a medium sized butterfly family. The span of their wings is from 4.5 cm to 6 mm. It got its name due to its coloring: these are mainly white insects or light colors, the wings of which are decorated with spots, dots, sections, lines: black, yellow, orange. Some details of the picture can be seen exclusively in the ultraviolet range.

These butterflies are settled almost all over the world: the exceptions are regions with extremely low temperatures and New Zealand.

Common types of whites

In total, the family has 1100 species of butterflies, united in 91 genera. In the territory of the former Soviet Union, only 70 of them can be found. But they also cause great damage to agriculture. The most common are:

1. Cabbage white (popular name - “cabbage butterfly"). The wings are white, but circled black at the edges and have dark marks. The lower part is light green, which allows the butterfly to hide from potential enemies, merging with plants. In early summer, the female makes clutches of 20-100 yellow eggs, from which caterpillars of cabbage whale will soon emerge - plant pests. Especially larvae are dangerous for ordinary and Brussels sprouts. Green caterpillars with yellow stripes and black specks hold in flocks and gnaw on the leaves of a head of cabbage. During the year, 2 generations manage to grow: at the end of May and in August.
2. Small cabbage - the "younger sister" of the common cabbage, which differs from its relative in smaller size.
3. Swedeby white peach is very similar in appearance to both cabbage, but prefers to live in mountain and forest areas.
4. It is also easy to confuse turnip whitewash (“repository”) with cabbage. It has round black spots on the front wing: one for females and two for males.
5. Spreading whitewood in the wingspan reaches 5 cm. The favorite food for its caterpillars is cabbage, radish and, of course, reseda.

Life of the whit

The whites are quite active insects. Thanks to the strong and developed wings, they are able to fly through large plants, and for some species migration is characteristic.
The development of cabbage whitewash, like other varieties, takes place in several stages:

1. Eggs, mostly yellow, elongated.
2. Caterpillars of the butterfly of the white butterfly prefer to eat dicotyledonous plants. Bean and cruciferous are especially “to her taste”. The body of the caterpillar is covered with small hairs. It is usually either green or yellow in color with longitudinal stripes. For some species, dots or small spots are characteristic.
3. By winter, the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis, which hides in the cracks of the bark of trees, in the cracks of fences and buildings on the site. They are attached to the base by specially crafted thread.
4. In the spring, adults appear that feed on flower nectar. After mating, the females make egg laying.

Some species of whites have their own characteristics of reproduction and life.

What harm do they do?

As it becomes clear from the description of the whitewash and its life, adults in the adult stage feed on nectar of flowers, therefore they are harmless to agriculture. But the white caterpillars feed on succulent leaves of plants, including those cultivated in fields and private gardens.

Mechanical damage to the leaves is the "entrance gate" for all kinds of bacteria and fungi. Therefore, the affected plant often begins to rot or hurt.

Larvae draw juice in which the nutrients required for the development of the plant and the formation of the fetus are dissolved. Therefore, due to the activity of the butterfly caterpillars, the plant weakens, becomes less resistant to diseases and weather, and the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the crop deteriorate.

How to deal with the whitewash?

The fight against the whit is not the easiest task. The insect rapidly multiplies and crosses impressive distances, choosing more and more new sites for its habitat.

If the population on the beds is small, then mechanical removal of the laid eggs and butterfly caterpillars can help, in other words, their collection by hand. To do this, examine the underside of the leaves of plants and destroy uninvited guests. So, the eggs of cabbage white are painted in a lemon tone and have a shape resembling a bottle.
To biological substances, with which you can destroy the whitewash at different stages of its development, include pyrethritis. It is extracted from plants of the same genus Pyrethrum, and it is poisonous to these butterflies. The only drawback of feverfew is the inability to destroy the caterpillars that have penetrated deep into the head of cabbage.

The natural enemy of the whites is the rider. This parasite lays larvae in the butterfly caterpillars, due to which they soon die.

Bacterial preparations are also effective, which are also safe for plants and do not impair the quality of the crop:

• "Bitoxibacillin";
• "Lepidocide";
• Fitoverm.

The use of such funds is allowed at all stages of plant development, with the exception of the last weeks after harvesting.

The most universal, and at the same time effective way to destroy the whites on their beds is the use of insecticidal preparations of chemical origin, which include one or more of the main active substances that poison the butterflies and lead to their death. For example, you can use:

• "Actellik";
• “Aktaru”;
• "Karate";
• Kinmix.

The use of any toxic chemicals as a measure of combating cabbage whitewash is recommended for agronomists to treat plantings only during the period when the leaves form in the plants. Processing while tying a head of cabbage is dangerous because toxic substances can remain inside it and poison those who will use cabbage for food. And for other crops, there is a limitation: a month before harvesting, the use of insecticides is strongly discouraged.

Folk remedies

To catch adult butterflies, which can produce their numerous offspring, vegetable growers have guessed to use home-made "sweet" traps. Dense sugar syrup is poured into plates or cut plastic bottles (and similar containers). Also, some brewer's yeast is added to it. Such traps are placed on the beds and in the aisles. Most butterflies of whites will probably decide to enjoy the bait, and are forever stuck in syrup. The disadvantage of this method is its versatility: there will be other, possibly beneficial insects.

Other folk remedies against pests - garden pests:

1. Infusion of burdock, wormwood and yarrow. All components are taken in equal parts, filled with boiling water (1: 3) and left for 48 hours.Before use, the infusion should be filtered for ease of use.
2. 500 g of wood ash and 2 tbsp. tablespoons of liquid soap are stirred in a bucket of water.
3. A vial of tincture of rhizome of valerian from a pharmacy is diluted in 3 l of water.
4. A more complex recipe involves collecting 200 g of fresh cones and branches of conifers (spruce or pine). Raw materials are poured into 2 liters of heated water and left to infuse for 7 days. After this period, it remains to strain the liquid, cool it in the refrigerator. Before using coniferous infusion for spraying plantings, it must be diluted with water at a concentration of 1:10.

Tools prepared according to these recipes are used to spray affected plants in the beds. The procedure should be carried out every 2 weeks (at least 2-3 times), choosing a day without wind and rainfall.

General tips

Regularly tackling your site and using some tricks against whites, the effectiveness of which is confirmed by the practice of many vegetable growers:

1. Tomato bushes scare off adult whites, so it is recommended that they be planted close to cabbage, turnips and other plants that the pest can choose.
2. Also, butterflies do not like the aroma of marigolds, valerian, lemon balm.
3. And dill, parsley and carrots lure the natural enemies of the whites.
4. It is important to observe the rules of the neighborhood on the site, not placing next to each other cabbage, turnips, radishes.
5. In April, when butterfly pupae are activated, it is important to strip the trunks of all trees on the site and whitewash them. It is also recommended not to forget that the whitewash can lurk in the cracks of garden buildings: they can be shed with water from a hose under pressure, if possible. To carry out such a procedure with a fence is a must.
6. Weeds, especially those belonging to the family of cruciferous plants (shepherd’s bag, colza, etc.), must be immediately removed from the site: they are very attractive for white oats.
7. All plantings should be regularly inspected to detect butterfly eggs or larvae that have already hatched from them.

The whites are insects that can do a lot of damage to the crop. To combat them, you need to use folk remedies or chemicals that complement each other perfectly. The basis is the observance of cleanliness on the site and following simple recommendations.