Hello, dear readers!Even if you invest all your time and effort into caring for tomatoes, you may miss something. We are not artificial storage devices! Each of us has our own business, favorite hobby, family, and finally. How can you manage everything here?

This seemingly harmless insect is capable of destroying the entire standing crop, biting into the juicy pulp of the fruit and eating tomatoes from the inside, without choosing whether they are green or red. This is an activity.

The dark brown body of the armyworm grows up to three centimeters in length, these caterpillars are quite large. Light wavy lines stretch along their bodies, and this animal also likes to eat peppers, eggplants, cabbage, onions and many other crops.

In June, when the cutworm pupa turns into a butterfly, these winged creatures lay a mass of eggs, and already on the fourth day, a merciless caterpillar crawls out of each egg and settles on the plant. By the way, in just two weeks it will become an adult, which is aimed at destroying the future harvest, and will begin to cutworms from the leaves.

The armyworm is active, in any of its states - from pupa to caterpillar, only at night, and it is either leaf-gnawing or gnawing. To put it simply in simple language, this means that the first lives on the ground, and the second lives underground.

Fighting caterpillars

Experienced summer residents use different methods combat caterpillars, depending on the condition of the pest, its period of development, and in this article we will figure out which of them are more effective.

• Moth owls are controlled using traps. Pheromone baits are hung at approximately waist level and filled with sour, fermented kvass. You should ensure that there is always leaven liquid in the trap containers, and remove all weeds in time before they bloom, so as not to leave food for butterflies.
• To get rid of pupae, you need to carefully dig up the ground in the fall and loosen all row spacing, selecting pupae by hand - they overwinter in the soil at a depth of 7-8 cm. If you start the correct crop rotation on the site, you can avoid the establishment of pupae.
• Spraying the soil and vegetation in the spring with various insecticides will help get rid of caterpillars. Drugs such as Karate or Proteus have already proven their effectiveness. But in the summer, it is best to treat tomatoes with organic preparations containing phosphorus: Zolon or Dursban.

External treatment against caterpillars of already mature and flowering tomatoes should be carried out in evening time, and if the plants are in the fruiting phase, then the tomatoes should be sprayed a month before picking the fruits.

There should be no more than two such treatments per year with full compliance with all dosages. Among drugs of biological origin, Fitoverm is the most famous.

• An effective method of combating underground or gnawing cutworms is Bazudin, which is buried directly in the moist soil.

Basic Rules

1. It is important to ensure that no plant debris remains on the site, as pupae can overwinter in them.
2. It is also worth fighting weeds with early spring for the same reason.
3. Constantly inspect plantings and greenhouses for pests.
4. Carry out preventive work in a timely manner and repeat after 10 days, since the cutworm reproduces constantly.
5. Do not allow the caterpillars to grow up, so as not to complicate your task.

Folk remedies

If you are against chemicals, or it is no longer possible to use extreme measures due to the ripeness of the crop, then in this case the following methods are quite applicable:

• In a bucket hot water During the day, celandine, wormwood, tobacco and garlic are infused in equal proportions in a bucket of water. Next, this solution is filtered and mixed with planed soap to fix it on the sheet.
• Potato tops are infused in the same way, only it needs to stand for four hours. Insist on the ratio of a kilogram of tops to a bucket of water.
• You can sprinkle the plants with salt. Or dissolve it in water and thoroughly spray it on the foliage. For better adhesion, also secure with soap.
• A decoction of wormwood will also help against the scoop. It needs to be boiled for 15 minutes and applied twice every other week. You should take a kilogram of herbs and boil them in three liters.
• Caterpillars are also afraid of burdock. For those who have time, you can use the following recipe: pour fresh leaves with water and leave for three days. Process according to foliage.

Anti-aphid products are also excellent in the fight against cutworms.

Fight fire with fire

There are other ways to exterminate caterpillars. For example, setting those who feed on them against pests.

The introduction of Trichogramma or Bracona is a well-known practice and is the main means of mass pest control. They are bred in laboratory conditions.

is an entomophagous insect. It is capable of destroying more than 160 species of caterpillars even in the egg phase. This predator is very effective at exterminating precisely those insects that are not so easy to detect, such as cutworms.

Thus, with the help of some insects you can successfully exterminate other insects that harm the crop. And do this at different stages of armyworm development.

This is especially true for the cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal system. And maybe for many of you this will be a discovery, but the functioning of the heart and blood vessels greatly depends on the health of the musculoskeletal system.

Therefore, now, during the autumn-winter dacha stagnation, I highly recommend Alexandra Bonina’s courses. "Secrets of a healthy lower back" And "Secrets of a healthy neck", a doctor and trainer who herself successfully overcame a disease such as osteochondrosis, and now helps others who want to get rid of it. I myself follow her lessons, and the effect is very noticeable!

And you, dear friends, have time to improve your health very well before the start of your dacha worries - you just need to purchase the course and do the recommended exercises!

Subscribe to my blog, dear friends, and you will learn many more interesting things.

Happy harvest and see you soon!

With all respect, Andrew

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A beautiful well-groomed plot with fruit-bearing trees and vegetable crops is the result of the long and painstaking work of each summer resident. But if you lose your vigilance even a little, caterpillars may appear and reduce all your efforts to zero.

Most of the caterpillars create nests in trees where they overwinter. It is noteworthy that such clutches can contain from hundreds to several thousand eggs, which later turn into caterpillars. If you don't get rid of them before spring arrives, problems may arise.

You can effectively fight caterpillars by using modern means, quickly defeating pests. They cope well with caterpillar populations and do not cause any harm to plants or humans.

The drugs are available in the form of powder, tablets or ampoules.

Usually, just one tablet or ampoule per 7-12 liters of water is enough to treat a planted area of ​​50 square meters. m. Summer residents should know that when choosing chemicals to combat caterpillars, they should remember that such products have a limited period of use, despite their effectiveness.

This means that the latter should be carried out no later than two weeks or a month before the harvest is harvested. Otherwise, vegetables and fruits sprayed with such compounds cannot be eaten. Therefore, it is very important to comply with the deadlines described in the instructions for use. Another way to combat caterpillars is with chemicals is an additive directly into the soil. They are able to repel such pests and prevent them from reproducing in the future.

The best folk recipes to combat caterpillars on the site:

• Fumigation. This method requires any container that can withstand high temperatures. It should be filled with hot coal and sprinkled with tar and sulfur, taken in proportions of two to one. Next, with this container, you need to walk near the trees and fumigate all areas that can be reached. Important rule: There should be no wind outside while performing this procedure. After this, the caterpillars will begin to die and crumble to the ground.
• Chamomile infusion. For this recipe you will need field chamomile, which must be collected and dried. After this, the leaves and flowers are crushed. Next, the raw material is filled with water at the rate of one liter of liquid per 100 g of plant. The infusion should stand for a day in a dark place, after which it is filtered and diluted with water (proportions one to five). Add 40-50 g of liquid soap to the resulting mixture to make it easier to apply to the leaves.
• Glue for caterpillars. This method is one of the most popular among summer residents. The sticky mess attracts caterpillars, which easily stick to it and cannot get out of such glue. In order to prepare such a trap, you need to take resin (100 ml), stearin (55 g) and pork fat (60 g). To obtain a homogeneous consistency, all components are heated. After this, mix, cool slightly and apply to areas of trees that are affected by caterpillars.
• against caterpillars. An excellent remedy in the fight against such pests is wormwood. It works especially well against caterpillars that eat fruit on trees. This plant can be used as a decoction or tincture. In the first case, you need to collect flowering wormwood. Next, it should be crushed and the bucket should be filled exactly halfway with such raw materials. Pour water on top. It should be infused for 24 hours. After the allotted time, it must be put on fire and boiled for half an hour. After this, the decoction is diluted with water in proportions of one to two and the plantings are sprayed and fruit trees from caterpillars. An infusion of wormwood is prepared as follows. Grind this plant and fill the bucket exactly one third. Next, the raw materials are poured to the very top. Insist for three days. After the required time has passed, the infusion is filtered and the future harvest is sprayed with it.

This should be done all season. In addition, every autumn you need to rake and remove all the leaves that have fallen and debris remaining from the plants. This method will help reduce the amount on the site.

Every season, before sowing seeds, you should check all trees and shrubs in the garden for the presence of caterpillar masonry.

More information can be found in the video.

One of the greatest natural miracles is the transformation of a fat and clumsy caterpillar into a butterfly. Moreover, the butterfly is not always more beautiful than its larva - some caterpillars are so unusual, brightly colored and have a bizarre shape that the butterfly, especially if it is nocturnal, looks like an ugly duckling next to it.

This review contains magnificent photos illustrating what caterpillars of some species look like and what kind of butterfly they turn into. There are also some Interesting Facts about these incomparable creatures of nature.

1. Brahmin Moth

Brahmei butterflies are found in the East - in India, China, Burma, and are also common on some islands of Japan.

This night view butterflies, they fly at night and sleep during the day with their wings spread. Butterflies and caterpillars are poisonous, so they have no enemies.

2. Peacock eye cecropia (Hyalophora cecropia)

The caterpillar is very poisonous, so with all its bright color it shows that it is better not to touch it. The tubercles have a rich color and additionally have dots, like those of poisonous ladybugs.

The peacock eye is the largest moth in America - larger than the palm of your hand.

3. Spicebush Swallowtail

At first glance, this creature looks more like a fish or lizard than a caterpillar. Huge false eyes scare away predators. In addition, during its life of a couple of months, the larva changes color - the egg hatches chocolate brown with large white spots, then becomes bright emerald, and before pupation - orange with a red belly.

The black-blue velvet butterfly is common in North America; in some places it gathers in colonies of hundreds of thousands of specimens.

4. Black Swallowtail

The caterpillar of the black swallowtail is very bright and noticeable - so that predators do not covet it. Although in fact it is quite edible.

This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful European butterflies. During the flight, you can see how the color of the wings of the black swallowtail shimmers.

5. Tailed Emperor Butterfly (Polyura Sempronius)

This is not a dinosaur, but a soft imperial caterpillar. Its size is up to 2 cm, and the shell visually enlarges the baby and scares the birds.

The “tailed emperor” is found only in Australia and feeds on nectar from only one plant.

6. Dalcerida (Acraga coa)

The Dalcerida caterpillar appears glassy and transparent.

At the same time, the butterfly itself is very shaggy, brick-colored. Refers to moths. Lives in the tropical forests of Mexico.

7. Moth (Acharia Stimulea)

This strange creature of incomprehensible color, with a bright green blanket, is a very dangerous creature. Each shoot secretes poison, and even one touch to the caterpillar can put an adult in the hospital.

And the butterfly is an ordinary night moth, almost invisible.

8. Witch moth caterpillar (Phobetron pithecium)

A real caterpillar witch! Lives in orchards both American continents. It is also called the “slug monkey” for unusual way movement - she crawls along one leaf, and jumps to another leaf.

Witch butterflies are also quite spectacular and large. They are nocturnal.

9. Greta Oto, or Glass Winged Butterfly

The caterpillar of the incredible Greta butterfly looks ordinary and does not attract attention.

But the glass butterfly with transparent wings looks simply amazing. This species lives in Mexico and throughout South America.

10. Large harpy, or spotted forktail (Cerura vinula)

Both the caterpillar and the harpy butterfly itself have a rather terrifying appearance. The growth in the form of a mustache confuses the birds, and they do not risk feasting on this completely edible larva.

The white moth from the Corydalis family is quite large and makes bad smell, so few people will dare to try it.

11. Flannel Moth

This is not a tuft of fur on a bush, but the larva of a flannel moth. Very poisonous creature!!! Under no circumstances should you touch it!

Adult flannel moths appear soft and cuddly, but they are also poisonous. Found in the USA and Mexico.

12. Blue Morpho

Here is such a strange furry stick, which has no clear where the head is and where the tail is, after transformation it will become one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world.

The blue Morpho butterfly lives in Central and South America. It is very large - reaches 210 mm in span. The wings have a metallic tint and shimmer when flying. There are 60 varieties of Morpho in all shades of blue.

13. Slug worm (Isochaetes beutenmuelleri)

This gorgeous caterpillar looks like an ornate ice crystal covered with numerous needles. The sight of it seems completely unappetizing to the birds!

And the adult butterfly is an ordinary night woodlice. Distributed throughout North America.

14. Silkmoth (Hubbard's Small Silkmoth)

This is exactly the famous caterpillar that makes silk thread, and people make wonderful fabric from it. These larvae eat only mulberry or mulberry leaves.

The silkworm butterfly is nocturnal.

15. Slug Butterfly (Isa Textula)

The leaf-shaped caterpillar stings with its hairs. She moves very interestingly - in zigzags, leaving noticeable traces.

The butterfly is also quite spectacular, 3-4 times smaller than a caterpillar and flies only at night.

16. Rainbow Blue Swallowtail Butterfly

The rainbow swallowtail caterpillar is a very impressive creature, looking like a horned bull.

A very beautiful and bright large butterfly lives in only one place on Earth - in the Ussuri taiga.

17. Spotted Apatelodes

This simply adorable furry caterpillar is extremely poisonous. By the way, her head is where there is one “feather”!

The spotted apatelodes moth is very large and buzzes loudly when it flies.

18. Saturnia Io (Automeris io)

Incredible bright green caterpillar with pompoms. Distributed in Canada and the USA. Very poisonous. The Indians used it to lubricate their arrows.

The colorful moth is also quite impressive, especially at night when those “eyes” glow.

19. Butterfly from the peacock-eye family (Attacus Atlas)

This furry miracle is a very rare larva. And all because people caught both them and butterflies en masse for sale.

The size of peacock eyes is impressive - up to 25 cm! The price of a copy reaches a thousand dollars. The atlas peacock eye is found in Southeast Asia, China, and Indonesia. The largest specimen with a wingspan of almost 27 cm was caught on the island. Java in 1922. This butterfly has no mouth and does not eat anything its entire life.

​Similar articles​​5. Remember that the caterpillar is easy to kill with drugs at a young age. When it grows up to five centimeters or more, it is not so easy to kill it with poisons.​

Scoops - who are they and what is their harm?

Why can't she be defeated?

Effective means against this pest are some ammonia fertilizers, the use of ash, chalk or lime, as well as the removal of wheatgrass from the area, the roots of which the wireworm feeds on.

• ​"Tsitkor";​
• ​One of the most dangerous pests for tomatoes is the mole cricket - an insect with small elytra and powerful digging paws, with which it makes deep nests and lays them there a large number of eggs The pest lives in the soil and therefore gnaws mainly on the roots and lower part of the stems of tomatoes.

​Use different ways combating this pest:

Potato scoop

​All of these measures are really very good. But, nevertheless, experts are developing new ways to combat this harmful insect, since every year the armyworm adapts to existing drugs.​

But fortunately, there are methods to combat this insect:

​Eggs are laid in small groups on the leaves of weeds, sometimes just on the soil. The viability of the caterpillars occurs within a week.

How to destroy

​Both species are active only at night. Both butterflies and larvae hide during the day and remain in a stationary phase until dark. Let's take a closer look at each pest separately.​

exclamation scoop

​Back in 1969, the moth was brought to the American continent for industrial purposes for breeding silkworms. But attempts to develop this area failed, and the delivered insect eventually became a major pest in most of the United States and Canada.​

​6. Be sure to destroy in the fall all plant debris and fruits damaged by the cotton bollworm, and thoroughly dig up the area occupied by nightshade vegetable crops in order to reduce the number of wintering pupae. In the summer, be sure to carry out loosening, preferably with a cultivator between the rows - this way you will destroy many hidden “partisans.”

​To understand how to cope with a pest, you need to know its biology. The armyworm overwinters in the soil in the pupal stage. In early June, butterflies hatch from the pupae, which after 3-4 days lay scattered pale yellow eggs on the leaves, stems and other parts of tomatoes or other cultivated plants. Depending on the temperature, the caterpillars can hatch as early as the third day. The development of the caterpillar lasts from 13 to 22 days. First they damage leaves, buds, and flowers. Especially great harm applied to tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, penetrating into their fruits. In beans, they eat the leaves and seeds in the beans; in corn, they eat the cob. What makes the fight more difficult is that usually the emergence of bollworm moths lasts for a month or more. Therefore, the appearance of one generation subsequently overlaps with another, and summer continues without interruption until October - until frost kills the tomatoes.

​It is important to remember that tomatoes in a greenhouse cannot be protected from pests using one method - comprehensive measures to prevent harmful insects from causing damage to tomatoes are the most effective.

• ​"Leptotsid";​
• There are several ways to deal with mole crickets - you can try to either destroy it or expel it from the site. To repel insects, stretched strips of fabric soaked in kerosene are used, since its smell repels the creature. Vinegar or ammonia. Do not forget that over time the smell disappears and the fabric should be replaced. Another way is to place chrysanthemum branches next to the tomatoes: the mole cricket does not like this plant, and therefore is highly likely to leave the area.

Cabbage scoop

​Catching butterflies with bait.​

​One of the most popular pests that affects both root crops and plants that bear fruit on the surface is the common cutworm. Potatoes, tomatoes, rhubarb and about three dozen other plants that are affected by this type of pest. The butterfly has a bright and two-color wing color of rusty yellow and brownish purple. Her caterpillar is different large size, reaching up to 0.5 cm, and has a yellow, sometimes off-white color.

How to destroy?

To avoid damage to the crop by the armyworm, early planting of seedlings is recommended.

• ​At first they lead an open lifestyle, and then they hide, but with the onset of darkness they crawl out for reinforcements. Young insects gnaw away succulent green leaves plants to the very veins, then bite into root crops, roots, eat embryos and seed sprouts right in the soil. During the summer period, only one generation of this pest manages to reproduce.
• This insect breeds on ordinary non-chernozem soil. This species leads to colossal yield losses of potatoes, onions, rhubarb, sorrel and other plants. I would especially like to note the breeding of cutworms on tomatoes. Its appearance on tomato plantations is very common and leads to almost 100% yield loss. A butterfly of this species is characterized by large grayish-yellow wings with a red or brown tint. Its caterpillar is bright yellow or red in color with a longitudinal stripe on its back and reaches a size of half a centimeter.​
• Every year new methods of dealing with this problem appear. Similar pests include the cutworm, which causes significant harm to gardeners every year.​
• ​Electronic newspaper: "economy"​
• ​How to fight the armyworm​
• ​It’s interesting that pests’ tastes change noticeably. So, Colorado in last years began to avoid planting tomatoes and even eggplants.​

​"Decis".​

Heart owl

​Others have enough effective way is to create manure traps in a greenhouse with tomatoes: since the mole cricket loves manured soil, you can make holes with humus for it, and insects are highly likely to concentrate in them.​

Collecting caterpillars during harvest.

​Eggs successfully survive winter at the base of plants, as well as at elderberry bushes. Young caterpillars in the active phase are especially dangerous. They invade the stems and gnaw them from the inside. Such plants no longer have a chance to recover; they break and simply dry out. At the beginning of summer, mature caterpillars descend along the passages made in the stems and gnaw holes for the butterflies to emerge, after which they successfully pupate. One plant can be affected simultaneously by several caterpillars.​

Cutworm

​As an option, collect caterpillars and eggs of the pest by hand.​

​Methods of dealing with the exclamation scoop are as follows:​
​The laid eggs of the potato cutworm successfully survive the winter, and already in May they begin their revival.​

How to destroy?

This family has about 100 species. They are butterflies of various colors - gray, brown, often dark. Cutworm butterflies do absolutely no harm to the plant, since they feed exclusively on their nectar. But their offspring - caterpillars, eat everything that gets in their way.​

• ​1. It is necessary to regularly destroy weeds, starting in spring, to reduce the food base of butterflies and caterpillars.​

​All of them are quite effective against cutworms, but they need to be applied at the right time: in early June, when tomato fruit sets. In addition, it is recommended to do this systematically - be sure to re-spray after a week. By the time tomatoes ripen, the use of insecticides is not recommended; it is better to use biological agents, also several times, and do not delay it. In addition, be sure to remove damaged fruits, stems and leaves of tomatoes from the area in order to get rid of the pupae that will overwinter in them.​

​And after September, when the cold comes, you just need to dig them up and then put them on the ground thin layer, and the mole crickets will die from the cold.​

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Who eats tomatoes in the greenhouse / Caterpillars eat tomato fruits, photos and videos

​Destruction of all weeds, especially nettles, quinoa, and white goosefoot, on which the armyworm especially likes to lay its eggs.​

Medvedka

​The methods used to combat this cutworm are the same as those used to destroy the potato cutworm.​

​Implementation foliar feeding plants with potassium chloride and superphosphate.​

Careful destruction of all weeds that serve as food for young caterpillars;

​The initial food for young caterpillars are leaves and stems of cereals. Already adult insects move to larger plants, damaging stems and root system. The period of transformation of caterpillars into pupae takes place at the beginning of summer directly in the soil near the affected plants. The matured adult butterflies fly out and lay new eggs on the ground until mid-autumn. wild plants, such as timothy and wheatgrass. Eggs can also be laid on potato and rhubarb leaves. This species reproduces only one generation.​

scoop

​Depending on their feeding method, these insects were divided into two groups:​

They were taken to some kind of laboratory and immediately destroyed! The control sample devoured two caterpillars and one laboratory assistant.​

​2. Observe the timing of chemical treatments: inspect the beds with tomatoes during the period of mass flowering and at the beginning of fruit set; If eggs or caterpillars are found, spray with one of the following drugs: Citcor, Decis, Inta-Vir, Iskra, Leptotsid, Kinmiks, Confidor.​

• ​At one time, the biggest concern in tomato plots was the potato aphid. Now the main enemy of tomatoes is the cotton bollworm, which makes holes in the fruit. Moreover, the caterpillars themselves act like real guerrillas - they eat fruits at night, and in the morning they hide in the soil at the base of the bushes, where they can be found by carefully raking the soil. This tactic explains the enormous harm - one caterpillar can make holes in almost all the fruits on the bush, which immediately rot!
• ​Despite the fact that the wireworm is a beetle, the main harm vegetable crops, including tomatoes, are caused by its larvae, which are more like caterpillars or worms. The period of their formation into adults is up to two years, and during this time they can cause serious damage to tomatoes in a greenhouse.​
• ​Recently, the cutworm caterpillar has been significantly damaging the tomato crop in the greenhouse. This is a rather voracious pest, the beginning of the development cycle of which coincides with the ovary of tomato fruits, so its presence on the site can be determined by the perforated and rotten tomato fruits, which it actively eats.

​Spraying with compounds used to destroy cabbage cutworm.​

Wireworm

​The most dangerous for almost all cultivated crops is the fall armyworm. It is widespread throughout almost the entire territory of the countries of the former Soviet Union. The list of plants affected by it includes about 40 crops. But most of all she prefers rutabaga, tomatoes, cabbage and radishes. The butterfly has two-color wings of brown and red with two spots of yellow and gray on a surface. Caterpillars come in both green and brown colors.​

​Very effective method spraying cabbage with insecticidal infusions based on burdock, wormwood, and potato tops.​

​Treatment of crops with lepidocide solution. It is necessary to dilute 2-3 grams of the substance in 1 liter of water.​

​Methods of combating this pest are the destruction of all plant residues after harvesting, as well as the disposal of all weeds belonging to cereal varieties. Such measures are often used to destroy many other pests.​

​Gnawing armyworm feeding on underground fruits of plants. Its species include: potato, exclamation and winter cutworms.​

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How to deal with cutworms, or who makes holes in tomatoes

​3. Be sure to repeat spraying with one of the above-mentioned insecticides after 7 days, since the hatching period of the caterpillars is extended, and the waiting period must be observed.

​Broad orientation​
It is quite difficult to get rid of wireworms, and therefore comprehensive measures should be used to combat it. First of all, you need to plant a special plant among the tomatoes that is incompatible with the pest. White mustard or radish are suitable for these purposes; they can repel insects from tomatoes. On the other hand, you can plant barley or oats, which the wireworm actively gnaws. After it infects these crops, they will need to be removed from the plantation and destroyed, since they will contain a lot of larvae.​

​The fight against the caterpillar is complicated by the fact that individuals appear continuously and in large quantities. At the caterpillar stage, they can live up to 22 days, so even a small number of them can cause significant damage. Pest populations usually die in September, when the first cold weather sets in.​
​All these measures to combat the armyworm are very effective, the main thing is that they must be carried out in a timely manner and according to instructions. Then the plants will be healthy and give you a wonderful harvest.​

The garden cutworm can produce two generations in the southern regions and one in the northern regions. Corn, millet, and sugar beets are the first crops that young caterpillars begin to infect. Then they move to cereals and melons.​

​Not a single application of lepidocide, phytoverm 5 days before the start of harvest.​

​Another harmful insect, widespread almost everywhere, is the cabbage cutworm. Her preference is the following crops: cabbage, peas, beets, lettuce and onions. This is a butterfly that has brown wings with a kidney-shaped gray spot on the surface. Initially, its caterpillar has a lush green color, then it changes to a brown-brown shade with lines on the back.​
The screech owl reproduces very successfully and is distributed almost everywhere. This species attacks the root crops of the crop. The insect got its name due to the presence of coloration in the form exclamation point on the surface of the wings. The caterpillar has a gray-brown color with a yellowish tint and reaches a size of half a centimeter. Mature caterpillars tolerate cold well and overwinter in the soil at a depth of about 30 cm, where the pupation process occurs in the spring.​
The leaf-eating armyworm eats fruits and plants located on the surface of the earth and leads a terrestrial lifestyle. This species includes: alfalfa, cabbage and garden cutworm.​
​try to eat such a bastard)))​
​4. During the period of ripening and harvesting, only biological preparations can and should be used. Carry out at least two or three treatments at weekly intervals.​
It’s hard to say what caused the “change of orientation” of this scoop. Another thing is that its caterpillars do not have much choice: the appearance of butterflies coincides with the flowering of tomatoes, and the caterpillars emerge just when a green ovary appears, which will quickly begin to ripen as soon as holes are made in it. However, the cotton bollworm is a real indiscriminate pest. He eats more than 120 types of crops: in addition to tomatoes and cotton - peppers, eggplants, beans, sunflowers, even tobacco and many others. This year, cutworm caterpillars also tried to eat corn cobs, despite frequent treatments. In particular, they treated the beetle, which stuck to the panicles and spoiled the stigmas of the cobs. But then, during the collection, they discovered a lot of caterpillars, which from the side of the stigmas were biting into the cobs, but, never reaching the grain, they died from the action of the Regent and Confidor.​
In addition to those described above, measures to mechanically destroy the pest can be effective: piles of manure are placed between the tomato beds, in which the wireworm larvae feel comfortable, and in September these piles are burned, and thus the insect is destroyed. In addition, after harvesting, you can dig up the soil to a depth of twenty centimeters, and the larvae lying in it will die from the cold.

​The first and simplest measure to reduce the number of cutworm caterpillars will be timely removal of weeds from the greenhouse, as this will limit their feeding. Next, the tomatoes should be subjected to chemical treatment. The following drugs are suitable for this:

Caterpillars have gotten into the habit of eating tomatoes - is there a type of tomato that eats caterpillars?

*noreturn*

​You can determine who is eating tomatoes in a greenhouse by the nature of the damage to the vegetables.​

Back in 1969, the moth was brought to the American continent for industrial purposes for breeding silkworms. But attempts to develop this area failed, and the delivered insect eventually became a major pest in most of the United States and Canada. Every year new methods of dealing with this problem appear. Similar pests include the cutworm, which causes significant damage to gardeners every year.

Scoops - who are they and what is their harm?

This family has about 100 species. They are butterflies of various colors - gray, brown, often dark. Cutworm butterflies do absolutely no harm to the plant, since they feed exclusively on their nectar. But their offspring - caterpillars - eat everything that gets in their way.

Depending on their feeding method, these insects were divided into two groups:

• A gnawing armyworm that feeds on underground fruits of plants. Its species include: potato, exclamation and winter cutworms.
• The leaf-eating armyworm eats fruits and plants located on the surface of the ground and leads a terrestrial lifestyle. This species includes: alfalfa, cabbage and garden cutworms.

Both species are active only at night. Both butterflies and larvae hide during the day and remain in a stationary phase until dark. Let's take a closer look at each pest separately.

Potato scoop

This insect breeds on ordinary non-chernozem soil. This species leads to colossal yield losses of potatoes, onions, rhubarb, sorrel and other plants. I would especially like to note the breeding of cutworms on tomatoes. Its appearance on tomato plantations is very common and leads to almost 100% yield loss. A butterfly of this species is characterized by large grayish-yellow wings with a red or brown tint. Its caterpillar is bright yellow or red in color with a longitudinal stripe on its back and reaches a size of half a centimeter.

The laid eggs of the potato cutworm successfully survive the winter, and already in May they begin their revival.

The initial food for young caterpillars is leaves and stems of cereals. Already adult insects move to larger plants, damaging the stems and root system in their path. The period of transformation of caterpillars into pupae takes place at the beginning of summer directly in the soil near the affected plants. The mature adult butterflies fly out and lay new eggs on wild plants such as timothy and wheatgrass until mid-autumn. Eggs can also be laid on potato and rhubarb leaves. This species reproduces only one generation.

How to destroy

Methods of combating this pest are the destruction of all plant residues after harvesting, as well as the disposal of all weeds belonging to cereal varieties. Such measures are often used to destroy many other pests.

exclamation scoop

The screech owl reproduces very successfully and is distributed almost everywhere. This species attacks the root crops of the crop. The insect got its name due to the presence of a coloration in the form of an exclamation mark on the surface of the wings. The caterpillar has a gray-brown color with a yellowish tint and reaches a size of half a centimeter. Mature caterpillars tolerate cold well and overwinter in the soil at a depth of about 30 cm, where the pupation process occurs in the spring.

Eggs are laid in small groups on the leaves of weeds, sometimes just on the soil. The viability of the caterpillars occurs within a week.

At first they lead an open lifestyle, and then hide, but with the onset of darkness they crawl out for reinforcements. Young insects gnaw out the juicy green leaves of plants right down to the veins, then bite into root crops, roots, and eat embryos and seed sprouts right in the soil. During the summer period, only one generation of this pest manages to reproduce.

Methods to combat the exclamation scoop are as follows:

• Thorough destruction of all weeds that serve as food for young caterpillars;
• Treatment of crops with lepidocide solution. It is necessary to dilute 2-3 grams of the substance in 1 liter of water.

Cabbage scoop

Another harmful insect, widespread almost everywhere, is the cabbage cutworm. Her preference is the following crops: cabbage, peas, beets, lettuce and onions. This is a butterfly that has brown wings with a kidney-shaped gray spot on the surface. Initially, its caterpillar has a lush green color, then it changes to a brownish-brown shade with lines on the back.

Cabbage moth pupae, like other species, overwinter in the soil, burrowing to a depth of no more than 4 cm. Already at the beginning of summer, butterflies fly out and lay their eggs on the inside of the leaves of plants growing in areas with high moisture. The mass appearance of caterpillars occurs in July-August. Wet and cold environment – favorable conditions for their reproduction. They penetrate the cabbage head and eat the root crop from the inside. Leaves eaten away to holes are a sign of the appearance of this pest. The cabbage cutworm is especially dangerous because it can reproduce in several generations over the entire summer period.

How to destroy?

But fortunately, there are methods to combat this insect:

• To avoid damage to the crop by the armyworm, early planting of seedlings is recommended.
• Another option is to collect caterpillars and eggs of the pest by hand.
• Carrying out foliar feeding of plants with potassium chloride and superphosphate.
• A very effective method of spraying cabbage with insecticidal infusions based on burdock, wormwood, and potato tops.
• More than one application of lepidocide, fitoverm 5 days before the start of harvest.
• Spraying, according to the instructions, with Zeta, Inta-vir, Fas is also effective.

All these measures are really very good. But, nevertheless, experts are developing new ways to combat this harmful insect, since every year the armyworm adapts to existing drugs.

Heart owl

One of the most popular pests that affects both root crops and plants that produce fruit on the surface is the common heart armyworm. Potatoes, tomatoes, rhubarb and about three dozen other plants that are affected by this type of pest. The butterfly has a bright and two-color wing color of rusty yellow and brownish purple. Its caterpillar is large in size, reaching up to 0.5 cm, and has a yellow, sometimes off-white color.

The eggs successfully survive the winter at the base of plants, as well as at elderberry bushes. Young caterpillars in the active phase are especially dangerous. They invade the stems and gnaw them from the inside. Such plants no longer have a chance to recover; they break and simply dry out. At the beginning of summer, mature caterpillars descend along the passages made in the stems and gnaw holes for the butterflies to emerge, after which they successfully pupate. One plant can be affected simultaneously by several caterpillars.

The methods used to combat this cutworm are the same as those used to destroy the potato cutworm.

Cutworm

The most dangerous for almost all cultivated crops is the fall armyworm. It is widespread throughout almost the entire territory of the countries of the former Soviet Union. The list of plants affected by it includes about 40 crops. But most of all she prefers rutabaga, tomatoes, cabbage and radishes. The butterfly has bicolor wings of brown and red with two spots of yellow and gray on the surface. Caterpillars come in both green and brown colors.

The garden cutworm can produce two generations in the southern regions and one in the northern regions. Corn, millet, and sugar beets are the first crops that young caterpillars begin to infect. Then they move to cereals and melons.
Successfully overwintering at a depth of up to 25 cm, the caterpillars rise to the surface and, with the onset of warmth, pupate. In mid-June, butterflies appear, the life period of which lasts until August. Females lay eggs on inner side leaves on absolutely all nearby plants. The emerging caterpillars gnaw through plant leaves and also infect unripe tomato fruits.

How to destroy?

They use different methods to combat this pest:

• Catching butterflies with bait.
• Collecting caterpillars during harvest.

Destruction of all weeds, especially nettle, quinoa, and white goosefoot, on which the armyworm especially likes to lay its eggs.

Spraying with compounds used to destroy cabbage cutworm.

All these measures to combat the armyworm are very effective, the main thing is that they must be carried out in a timely manner and according to instructions. Then the plants will be healthy and give you a wonderful harvest.