Mining mole - how to get rid of it

Appearance description

Adult mole looks like a butterflyreaching about a centimeter in full wingspan. Its color is very bright: a brick-red body (less often - orange) with white spots. Black scales are scattered on the body and legs. The mining mole in the photo looks quite nice and harmless, but appearance, as often happens, is deceptive.

Larva moth its shape resembles a spindle, its body is painted in an unpleasant dull-milky color. As the larva develops, it becomes a caterpillar with developed limbs on the thoracic and abdominal parts. A mouth opening is gradually formed, with the help of which the pest is able to gnaw through dense chestnut leaves.

Mining Moth

Important!

According to the observations, the activity of the parasite lasts two years in a row, after which you can forget about it for several years.

Breeding

The deposition time of the chestnut moth eggs is easy to notice: at thisperiod, they hover in huge numbers around the chestnut. One individual is able to lay about 50 eggs in one laying. The larvae hatch in just a few days and penetrate directly from the eggs into the thickness of the chestnut leaf. The larva is isolated from the environment because the inlet is blocked by an egg - a mine.

The development of the chestnut moth larva occurs in stages:

• The first three of them are growing, gaining mass. At this time, it eats only juice, begins to make a turn;
• The fourth stage - the transformation into a caterpillar. From this moment begins the nutrition of fiber, the active expansion of living space;
• The fifth stage is the same caterpillar, gaining mass;
• By the sixth stage, it stops feeding, spins the thread for the cocoon.

After this, the insect pupates. In the pupa there is a transformation into an adult individual, emerging into the light along with chestnut blooms.

Damage to the mining moth

This insect is dangerous to a huge number of different plants. Chestnut miner moth gnaws out passages in the leaves, which leads to a significant weakening of the plant. Considering that adults can carry viruses of various diseases, in parks or greenhouses infected with them, epidemics may arise.

Mining moth tracks

Important!

In one season, the chestnut mole can make several clutches. Thus, by the end of the year, the chestnut leaves are speckled with passages that kill them, weakening the tree itself. As a result, many of them are unable to survive the winter.

The destruction of the chestnut moth

Scientists have long wondered how to get rid of the chestnut mining moth, and all its relatives, such as cabbage, burdock mole. As a result of the research, it turned out that the struggle can be conducted in several ways, which are divided into chemical and biological methods. It is worth considering each of them separately.

Biological method

It was observed that the chestnut mole is food for some birds and insects:

• The most actively feed on chestnut moths are tits, starlings and sparrows. In seasons, when insects attack chestnuts, it is necessary to attract as many of these birds as possible to squares and parks;
• Moth miner is a favorite delicacy of wood bugs and several species of beetles;
• In order to save the plants affected by the miner moth, they release a trichogram — a rider laying eggs in the larvae of these insects.The larvae hatch from the eggs, feed on the “miners” and gradually kill them.

The latter method is not particularly popular, since it is difficult to say what could be the result of such a large accumulation of parasite riders.

Biological method

Chemical method

Although the method of spraying is quite effective, it is dangerous to apply it on the chestnut on which the mining mole settled, because these trees are usually planted in crowded places.

In recent years, a new method has been used: insecticides are placed in the holes of the stems. This method makes the plant unsuitable for eating chestnut mining moths. However, experts fear that the poison can get into the composition of nectar, which will lead to the poisoning of bees and other nectar-collecting beneficial flyers.

Bioprotection

Scientists have concluded that if it is difficult to destroy a colony that has appeared, you can try to exclude its access to chestnut trees. This can be done by planting other types of plants poisonous to the mining moth next to chestnut plantings. In the course of time, it is possible to completely replace horse chestnut with those trees that the mole cannot use for feeding.

Signs of affection and prevention

It is easy to distinguish a chestnut tree on which a colony has long lived. His sheets are completely or partially covered with dry areas, holes, ulcerations. It is difficult to detect a symptom of a settled colony only, since the damage to the leaf is still barely noticeable.

Prevention may be as follows:

• use chemicals, laying them in the trunks;
• collect fallen sheets and burn;
• spray chestnut trees and their leaves with spring oils;
• cover chestnut planting canvas;
• Get rid of insects by knocking them down with a strong stream of water.

curious

About moth scientists have found interesting facts:

• For pupation, the caterpillar can not only spin its own silk, but also use the cocoon already abandoned by someone;
• When adverse conditions occur, only pupae are able to hibernate: the insect at other stages of development will die;
• One colony can destroy several trees per season.