Who is boxwood moth? Basic information about the pest and how to deal with it

Boxwood fireworm is a pest found in Sochi recently in 2012. He was brought along with plants intended for landscaping for the Olympic Games. Shortly afterwards, boxwood began to die. The question was asked by botanists: how to preserve this rare plant and Colchian forests?

Insect description

Boxwood fireworm (Latin Cydalima perspectalis Walker) belongs to a large family of fireworms. In total, it includes 10,000 species of insects, some of which are recognized as dangerous phytophages: their caterpillars feed on plant leaves, which often leads to its death. Boxwood moth is a dangerous pest, choosing only boxwood to feed its larvae in Europe. In their homeland, in eastern Asia, insects attack the winged and Japanese euonymus, as well as the holly purple.

An adult butterfly is a relatively large insect, the wingspan of which reaches 4.5 cm. They are scaly, consisting of several longitudinal segments, fan-shaped, diverging from the body of a boxwood ogne. The butterfly looks very pretty: its wings are evenly painted in sky-blue color, and at the edges are circled not only by a wide brown edging, but also by a fringe of wool. When the firebox sits, she folds them behind her in the form of a house.
On the head are large hemispherical eyes. They are clearly visible because their black color contrasts with a light body and wings. Nearby are filiform tendrils and labial tentacles resembling the shape of a bird's beak.

Young caterpillars are painted in a bright yellow-green color, only their head is black. The length of the larva recently hatched from the egg is up to 2 mm. Its development time is about a month: during it, the caterpillar eats intensely, gains mass, increases in length and darkens. On its sides appear longitudinal white (several thin) and black stripes (one, but thick). The body of the boxwood larva is covered with dotted growths of dark color. After she pupates, and then turns into an adult - an adult butterfly, already ready to take part in procreation.

Infection history

The primary habitat of boxwood moths is the east of Asia. It is a natural insect for the south of the Russian Primorsky Territory. The spread of the pest in Europe began in 2006, when it was discovered in Germany. Since that time, boxwood fire began to spread rapidly throughout the Old World: the insect reached Britain and Turkey. The speed of the lesion by the invasive phytophage that emerged led scientists to model a possible development plan. Its results were disappointing: a moth can fill the entire territory of Europe, where its fodder plants grow.

In 2012, the pest was brought to Sochi, bringing it from Italy along with a spherical boxwood intended for landscaping the city in preparation for the Olympics. Soon, botanists noticed that boxwood began to dry out and die.It turned out that many young and large trees are affected by boxwood fire. Soon, the insect spread throughout the south of the Krasnodar Territory, penetrated into Adygea and Abkhazia. Scientists are sounding the alarm: the existence of relict forests in Russia today is under great threat.

Boxwood Moth Life

Adult individuals and larvae spend their life near the boxwood, the leaves of which they feed. In rare cases of feed deficiency, the pest may be temporarily content with other plants or boxwood bark. Scientists have found that in Sochi and surrounding areas, the pest managed to feast on maple, bay leaves, Colchis larch, medlar and ash.

The pest hibernates directly in the boxwood branches, creating in them a protective cocoon from the web.

The caterpillars of the boxwood moth are extremely voracious: to fully eat the leaf, one individual will need only 4 hours. A laboratory study was conducted, during which a 3-liter jar was tightly packed with boxwood leaves. 20 caterpillars were planted in it, and after 2 hours nothing was left of the greenery.

Breeding

Females, after mating with males, look for a suitable plant and lay eggs 1 mm in size on young and juicy leaves on the back. This precaution helps to protect the masonry from pests, scorching rays of the sun, rain.

Soon, caterpillars appear from them, beginning to actively bite boxwood leaves. This will last 3-4 weeks until the time of pupation. Ognevka is in the pupal phase for a short time: on average 10 days, after which an adult butterfly appears.

On the coast of the North Caucasus in one year, 3 generations of boxwood moths have time to be born. But under favorable weather conditions - warm late autumn or early spring - 4 generations of the insect appear.

Harm

Boxwood leaves are the favorite food of the ognevka of this species, so it inflicts huge damage on this relic and rare plant. Groves on the mountain slopes in the region of Sochi, Adygea and Abkhazia, decorative planting in the streets of settlements, and boxwood in private areas are also at risk.

Colchis boxwood, growing in Sochi and Adygea, is listed in the Red Book of Russia, since the species is on the verge of extinction. This makes the problem of the occurrence of moths even more acute.

Due to the fact that the larvae intensively eat leaves, the natural deciduous cover of plants is disturbed. This, in turn, leads to disruption of the movement of nutrients and a reduction in the process of photosynthesis, which negatively affects boxwood. Its shoots begin to dry out and even die off completely.

The extent and extent of the pest damage depends on many factors:

• availability of feed base;
• interactions within the population and with other species;
• weather conditions;
• application of protective measures against the pest, etc.

The south of the Krasnodar Territory is very favorable for the life and reproduction of moths, which cannot but alarm scientists. Here, the appropriate average annual temperature and humidity, the abundance of boxwood and the absence of enemies.

It is possible to understand that boxwood is consumed by a firebox by signs:

• the presence on the branches and leaves of lumps of clumps of web, in which there is excrement and skins of caterpillars left after their molting;
• on the box you can see green caterpillars with a black stripe on the sides, with pubescence of small hairs;
• the earth around the plant is covered with larvae vital products: the remains of greenery processed in the body, and feces with an unpleasant odor;
• boxwood leaves (and later - shoots and whole bushes) begin to dry out and die.

If these disturbing bells are noticed, then you need to take measures, knowing how to deal with boxwood ognevka, until he completely destroyed the valuable plant.

Pest Control Methods

Effective measures to combat boxwood fire used in Sochi include mechanical removal of caterpillars, pheromone traps, and the use of chemical insecticides. Caterpillars and egg laying are hand-picked and then burned.Also to reduce the pest population will help the deep pruning of plants. Biological agents are used privately by the owners of the plots, but municipal organizations do not use them. The processing of boxwood mountain groves is not possible, therefore, it is very difficult to control the process of distribution of the moth.

How to deal with a pest on a site? First of all, you need to regularly and carefully inspect boxwood, starting in early spring. It is important to remember that butterflies lay eggs on the back of the leaves: there they need to be found.

Chemical

There are a number of remedies for boxwood fire of chemical origin that helps to destroy the pest by spraying. The composition of the insecticide contains toxic substances that, when ingested, lead to the death of the latter.

These funds include:

1. Pyrethroid drugs: Decis and Decis Pro, Karate, Fastak, Fury.
2. Stronger chemical insecticides: BI-25 and karbofos.
3. Dimilin is a contact-intestinal chemical that destroys young caterpillars. Its active substance is diflubenzuron.

All these funds must be used with caution, because they contain substances that cause poisoning in humans. It is important to follow the instructions exactly.

On the territory of Russia, the struggle is hampered by a climate favorable to the pest and the fact that it is impossible to control the population in mountain groves: the relief and the status of the conservation zone interfere. Downstream the mountain rivers are resort settlements, which does not allow the use of insecticides on a global scale.

Biological

Biological agents that allow you to destroy the moth are not very popular, although they are effective against pest tracks. The best results are shown by preparations with Thuringiensis bacteria from the Bacillus genus: BIP, BTB, Dendrobacillin, Dipel, Lepidocide, etc. There is also information that some gardeners use Indian Azadirachta oil as a means of milking spraying, diluting it in water 1 / 25 and using daily.

Ognevka is a pest of boxwood, which has become notorious in Russia recently. The complexity of dealing with it on a global scale is complicated by the characteristics of the region. But, if a boxwood fire is wound up on the site, it can be dealt with with the help of chemicals and biological preparations.