Why are sapwoods dangerous? Ways to deal with fruit bark beetle

Sapwoods are a genus of weevils among the bark beetle family. Its representatives harm trees of various species. About 120 species are attributed to sapwood. They inhabit regions in the Northern Hemisphere and almost the entire territory of South America.

Description

Adult sapwoods reach a length of 1.5 to 5.5 cm. They are characterized by a dark body color, which can be completely black or with a red or brown tint. Some species have transverse bandages. A well-recognized trait of the genus is the massive pronotum, the width of which is almost equal to the width of the abdomen.

In a temperate climate, active years of sapwood occur in May – July. This is the time of active reproduction: after mating, the female lays eggs under the bark of a suitable tree. The larvae that appear soon gnaw at her, eating and making moves.

Sapwood beetles wait for the winter in the form of a larva, hiding from the cold in the wood. In the spring, when fruit trees bloom in the gardens, the insect turns into a chrysalis, and then into an imago.

Kinds

Of the 120 species of sapwood that exist in the world that inhabit the territory of the former USSR and are significant for human activity are four.

Birch sapwood

This is an oligophage, that is, an insect only harms birches. Other types of trees are uninteresting for him. Damage is caused by larvae developing in the bark, and young bugs using birch as a source of additional food, often eating a juicy bark near the kidneys.

The sapwood imago is a beetle whose body length is from 4.5 to 6.5 cm. It is painted black, which tends to shine in the light. The upper surface of the elytra and part of the pronotum are cast in brown-red. Active years of birch sapwood fall in May.

The beetle rarely attacks young trees, preferring the old and middle-aged. The choice of the female does not depend on the state of health of the birch and its place of growth. Birch sapwood can also affect wood material: firewood, boards, woodlands. As a result of the activity of the pest, birch trees become weak and can completely dry out; and harvested wood is losing its product characteristics.

Birch sapwood lives in the European part of the Russian Federation, in the Caucasus region, in Siberia to Transbaikalia; It is also common in Ukraine, Western Europe and in Mongolia, where birch trees grow.

Ilmovye sapwood

Small and large elm sapwoods differ in size from each other. The length of the first is 3.5–4.5 cm, and the second is from 4.5 to 5.5 cm. What unites them is that the larvae of these species prefer to inhabit ash-trees (elms). But often they parasitize on other trees: hornbeam, oak, aspen. The beetle is dangerous primarily because it is a carrier of fungi that provoke the development of the Dutch disease. Their habitat coincides with the distribution area of ​​the birch sapwood.

Fruit sapwood

They harm the household because their larvae and beetles gnaw on the bark of garden trees, especially often affecting cherries and plums. They are ubiquitous in Europe, Western Siberia and the north of the Caucasus. On the European territory of Russia they live in the Non-Black Earth Region.These brilliant beetles have a black head and pronotum, abdomen and elytra with a brownish-red tint. In addition to garden trees, elm, hawthorn, mountain ash and other species can be chosen.

Garden pests

Sapwood larvae live in the bark of trees, making numerous moves in it. In spring, when fruit crops bloom, pupation occurs.

The bugs that appeared to break out and continue their race make almost perfect circular holes in the cortex. It is easy to learn from them that the garden suffers from sapwood.

Pathogenic microorganisms: bacteria and fungi easily penetrate through the holes in the plant, which leads to secondary diseases. Gnawing the bast - one of the layers of the bark - causes the death of branches with the subsequent death of the tree. The third aspect of the harm caused by sapwood is gum stone detonation in stone fruits, that is, sticky fluid leakage: brown, yellow, or transparent. This is caused by gnawing by bugs on sections in the forks of branches and around the kidneys. As a result, the buds and young shoots of the tree die.

Fight

The fight against sapwood is necessary to maintain the health of the inhabitants of the garden and to harvest a good crop. If you allow infection and do not use chemicals, the fruits will be small and tasteless, and after 4-5 years, all plantings can die.

Agricultural technology

The order on the site is the main guarantee of healthy plants. Agrotechnical methods to combat sapwood include special measures:

• pruning dry and pest-damaged branches that must be burned after the procedure;
• cleaning trunks and tree branches from mushrooms, moss or lichens, because they are a natural shelter for a beetle;
• timely application of organic and mineral fertilizers for general health purposes;
• whitewashing trunks and the base of skeletal shoots.

All these actions will not take much time, but their benefits will be enormous.

Chemicals

If the pest causes significant damage to the garden, then it is time to use chemical insecticides. During the growing season, 2 treatments are needed: during the end of flowering trees and after 2 weeks.

The trunk and skeletal branches should be carefully soaked.

Suitable for processing:

• "Aktara";
• "Vector";
• Confidor
• Mospilan.

All of these drugs are approved for use in private areas. Injections with Savoy-1, which are injected under the bark with a syringe, will also help.

Fruit sapwood is a bug, the presence of which in the garden requires urgent measures to neutralize it. If compliance with agricultural technology has not yielded results, then chemicals will be used. Using them in accordance with the instructions, you can avoid serious trouble.