Apple blossoms: harmfulness and control options

Monophagous agricultural pests select one fodder plant and spend their whole life on it. For an apple bee-eater, this is an apple tree. Adults and larvae of the beetle damage various parts of the culture - leaves, buds, ovary. With the mass spread of pests and weak flowering of trees, the crop can be completely destroyed. Apple blossoms spread throughout the European part of Russia. The fight against him is complex. Insecticides, hunting belts and mechanical removal of insects are used to destroy beetles.

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Apple or apple flower beetle (Anthonomus pomorum) is a small beetle from the family of weevils. The body size of adults is 3-5 mm. The body shape is oval, the head is elongated. The color is brownish-brown. The whole body and limbs are covered with gray hairs. The front of the head goes into the rostrum or proboscis. This is a hallmark of weevils. The organ ends with a gnawing oral apparatus. Mace-shaped club antennae. Legs with a reddish tinge, large teeth on the hips.

Information. Sexual dimorphism of insects manifests itself in the structure of the rostrum. In males it is shorter than in females and slightly curved.

The larva of light yellow color has a crescent shape. Body length 5-6 mm. The head is brown, legs are reduced, on the back there are many tubercles. The pupa retains the size of the larva, but has the rudiments of the wings, rostrum and limbs.

Insect lifestyle

Weevils are insects with a complete transformation. Their development cycle takes 35-40 days. They hibernate at the adult stage. Colds await in the crevices of the bark of the apple tree or the litter near the trees. Beetles wake up in early spring, as soon as the temperature rises to + 6 °. Flower beetles rise to the top of the crown. Weevils feed on swelling buds of leaves and flowers. Beetles prefer different varieties of apple trees, but can settle on a pear. The greatest number of pests is observed on extreme trees.
The mating period of insects begins after the opening of the buds of the apple tree. A fertilized female gnaws a hole in the petals and lays an egg between the stamens. One flower has one oblong, white egg. Masonry falls at the end of April. Fertility of the female is 100 eggs. At an optimum temperature of + 22 °, a larva appears in a week. Leaving posterity, the overwintered generation dies. One generation changes per year.

Larval development

The hatching larva eats the stamens and pistil of the flower. Its excrement remains inside the bud and glue the petals together. Damaged flowers acquire a brown color, dry and fall off. The larval stage lasts 2-3 weeks. During this time, the insect sheds twice and increases in size by 3 times (up to 6 mm). The next step is turning into a chrysalis. Its development in warm weather takes 1 week.

Young apple flower-eaters remain in the bud until the chitinous coat hardens. Then they gnaw outward.The new generation weevils feed on leaves. With the help of wings, they settle on neighboring trees. Beetles wait for the summer heat, hiding in the crevices of the bark. In autumn, after leaf fall, flower beetles look for places to winter. Insects descend to the ground and bury themselves in fallen leaves.

Information. Massive years of beetles occur in late May and early June. It coincides with flying around an extra ovary on apple trees.

Spread

The distribution range of the pest coincides with the places where the apple tree grows. It starts from Western Europe and ends with the Ural Mountains. The northern border of habitat passes through Scandinavia and the Leningrad region. From the south, distribution is limited to the Caucasus. Apple weevils are found in the Far East and in Korea. Beetles prefer thickened plantings, the first to populate trees on the north side.

Malicious Apple Blossom

Apple blossoms are fertile and mobile pests. They multiply rapidly and easily capture new territories for food. Damaged buds do not produce fruit. Damage caused by the phytophage affects the yield and health of the tree. The maximum number of weevils, which does not lead to catastrophic consequences, is 20-40 adults.

Attention. The flower beetles are most harmed in the cold spring when budding is extended for up to three weeks. The female manages to lay many eggs, the number of weevils increases many times.

Control measures

In order to prevent crop loss, it is necessary to take comprehensive measures to combat apple blossoms. With a small number of pests, you can cope with them by mechanical collection. But with significant reproduction of pests, chemical treatment of the garden is indispensable.

Mechanical way

A common mechanical method of pest control is the device of hunting belts. Their design is so simple that it can be made at home. A strip 20-25 cm wide of dense fabric (burlap, matting, tarpaulin) or cardboard is attached with a rope to the trunk of an apple tree. The material is pre-treated with an insecticide solution. There are several types of belts:

• Dry and smooth that the insect cannot climb.
• A belt soaked with pesticides that kill pests on contact with the surface.
• Adhesive - the surface is treated with a non-drying adhesive mass, in which beetles and caterpillars get stuck. After filling with pests, the belt is burned.

Installation of hunting belts against insects that have gone to winter in the soil. In the spring they wake up and climb the apple tree. Once trapped, pests cannot damage the kidneys and give offspring. It is important not to be late with the installation of the belt. Apple blossoms wake up in early spring, as soon as the air warms up to 6 °. The method is effective and environmentally friendly. Hunting belts are removed from the trunks after flowering.

The second mechanical method is knocking down beetles from branches. To do this, you need a long stick, which is wrapped with a cloth from one edge. Sixth tap on the branches of a tree in the upper part of the crown, where weevils gather. A plastic film or tarpaulin, on which pests fall, is spread under the apple tree. Fallen flower beetles are burned or stoked. The procedure is performed for several days in a row. The best time for dropping pests is early morning, until the temperature rises to 10 °. Later, the bugs become active, some fly apart.

Tip. Experienced gardeners have noticed that the trunks of apple trees, whitewashed with lime mortar, repel pests.

Agrotechnical methods

The main goal of agricultural activities is to increase the resistance of trees to diseases and pests. The first step is to choose a place for laying the garden. Nearby there should not be wild apple trees serving as a refuge for pests.

Chemicals

Processing trees with insecticides has negative consequences (the death of beneficial insects), is the most effective method of killing pests. Among the popular preparations from apple blossoms:

1. Karbofos is an organophosphorus compound with a wide spectrum of action. The drug is easily dissolved in water, has a pungent odor. Effective contact insecticide with frequent use is addictive in insects.
2. Spark double effect - a tablet containing two types of pyrethroids: cypermethrin and permethrin. Contact insecticidal drugs actively destroy pests, complementing each other's action. The tablet is dissolved in a small amount of water, then the amount of liquid is adjusted to 10 liters. Processing apple trees is carried out immediately after preparation of the solution. The best time is morning hours. The amount of the drug per tree depends on its size and degree of infection, 10 l is enough for 1-5 plants.
3. Kinmix - the product is available in the form of a concentrated emulsion, packaged in 2.5 ml ampoules, 10 ml vials, 5 l canisters. Processing with a Kinmix solution allows you to save the garden from the apple bee-eater, aphids, leafworms and silkworm caterpillars. One ampoule is diluted in 10 liters of water, the treatment is performed during the budding period.
4. Decis is a synthetic contact-intestinal pyrethroid. It acts on the nervous system of pests an hour after processing the apple tree. Moderately dangerous for humans, does not accumulate in the soil.

Attention. Alternate insecticides in the processing of trees will help to eliminate the addiction of pests to the action of poisons.

Natural enemies

The destruction of the apple bee-eater is done not only by gardeners, but by the natural enemies of the insect. Among them are birds and riders. To attract birds, feeders are installed. Allies in the fight against weevils are tits, flycatchers, and nuthatch. Parasitic wasps and flies lay eggs in the body of the weevil larva. The victim quickly stops eating, becomes lethargic. Soon the offspring of the riders leaves the body of the larva, which dies. The number of entomophages varies in different years. Cases have been recorded when 90% of the beetle larvae were infected.

Preventative measures

Simple preventative measures allow you to prevent the harmful effects of apple blossoms:

• Exfoliated bark serves as a winter refuge for weevils. It is removed, and the exposed areas are covered with a lime mixture.
• Fallen leaves, weeds and branches are raked in heaps and burned. Some bugs will die in the fire, individuals burrowing into the soil will remain in the cold without shelter and freeze.
• The trunk area is dug up, getting weevils out of the ground.

Preventive work is carried out in the fall.