How to defeat the sawfly in the garden?
In total, scientists have classified and described about 9 thousand species of sawfly. About a quarter of them settled in Russia. Sawflies quickly settle on agricultural plantings and are capable of causing significant damage in a short time. Each species destroys a particular plant species and is vulnerable to certain drugs. Therefore, for example, when attacking a rose and a pine sawfly, the tactics of struggle will be different.
The pest got its name because of the similarity of the egg clutch with the toothed saw surface.
general description
Sawflies belong to the family of Hymenoptera insects. Depending on the species, the length of the pest's body varies from 2 to 32 mm. The insect has a developed mouth apparatus, two complex and three simple eyes, body parts are welded together. The beetle has 2 pairs of transparent or translucent wings.
The larvae look peculiar, resemble real caterpillars of butterflies, for which they were named false caterpillars. The anterior part of their cylindrical body is strongly widened, the legs are barely visible. The larvae of some species are covered with a slimy coating, while in other species the larvae are shrouded in white fluff.
Moving into the pupal stage, the larvae form a dense cocoon and attach to branches or leaves on trees. Cocoons often hide in the upper soil layer, where they hibernate.
Most larvae feed on wood and leaf tissue of deciduous trees, although there are species that live on conifers. Females lay eggs along leaf veins or in bark folds. The larvae that are born feed on foliage without damaging the shoots. The pest is most active in spring and summer.
Common types of sawfly
Sawflies can damage berry, fruit, cereals, ornamental crops, some varieties cause damage to forestry.
Most of the pests produce 2 generations per year, some species have 1 or 3 generations.
In the climate of the middle lane, sawflies winter at different stages of development:
- eggs,
- larvae,
- pupae,
- prepupae.
Insects spread by migration, preferring to settle on young plantations. The pest attacks mature trees much less often.
Pine sawfly
Two types of sawfly can parasitize on a pine:
- Common pine. Its larvae are distinguished by a yellowish or green body 2.5 cm long and a brown head. They have a false pair of legs.
- Red pine. Its larvae are characterized by a gray color with a longitudinal white stripe on the back and black dots on the sides.
Adult insects of both subspecies are similar in appearance, but there are gender differences. In males the color is black, in females it is yellowish or red with black spots.
Larvae and adults cause harm, destroying needles in forests and on decorative conifers planted in the country. A young pine tree attacked by a pest can die within 4 years.
Control measures:
- Use glue rings on the bottom of the barrel.
- Spraying with chemicals (Aktara, Aktellik, Fufanon, Novaktion, Arrivo, Creocid Pro).
- Digging the trunk circle.
At the initial stages, processing from a pine sawfly with an infusion of wormwood, tobacco, mustard is allowed. The larvae are harvested by hand and destroyed.
Spruce common sawfly
The insect damages only spruce.Insects produce one generation of new individuals per year. The size of the female is 5–6 mm. The males are slightly smaller. The body of the larvae is light green, females are black, males are yellow. The development of the pest into an adult insect occurs within 2-3 weeks. The larvae feed exclusively on young needles. The fertility of the pest is affected by weather conditions and the stage of shoot development during the mass summer of beetles.
The fight is to treat young shoots with insecticides. It is better to use drugs of systemic action, which penetrate into the body of pests along with plant sap and poison it.
For the destruction of insects are used:
- "Aktara";
- "Confidor";
- Fury;
- "Karate";
- Actellik;
- "Fufanon".
Double processing is required. The first time the trees are sprayed as soon as the growth of young shoots begins, the second time - after 2 weeks. For the greatest effectiveness, it is better to alternate drugs with each other.
Birch sawfly
It is also called birch leaf bite. Hymenoptera insect from the family of butterflies. The life cycle is 1 year. Adults are black in color and body up to 29 mm long. The caterpillar of this species is green or bluish with a black stripe along the back. Massive years occurs in early summer. Larvae and adults gnaw birch leaves.
The affected trees are sprayed using insecticidal preparations:
- "Karbofos";
- "Metaphos";
- "Arrivo";
- Mospilan;
- "Decis";
- "Karate".
Re-processing is carried out after 2 weeks. If the pest is not completely destroyed, the agent used for spraying is replaced with a drug of a different action.
Sawfly on roses
Rose bushes can be infected with several types of pests at once. Usually they are attacked by the rose sawfly, cherry slimy sawfly and several other varieties. There are species that feed on rose shoots from the inside and severely damage them.
With a slight infection, pests are destroyed mechanically, collecting them in the morning.
In case of mass infection against openly parasitic sawflies, roses are treated with insecticides:
- "Aktara";
- "Confidor";
- "Decis";
- "Fastak".
Hidden sawflies living in stem tissues are destroyed with systemic drugs such as Mospilan, Engio. Processing is carried out twice, taking a break for 3 weeks. Shoots with traces of severe damage are removed and burned.
Plum sawfly
Plum is damaged by 2 types of sawfly - yellow and black, differing in body color. Adults reach 5 mm in length, and the larvae grow up to 8 mm. Pest control should be started before flowering.
Each plum sawfly larva is capable of damaging up to 6 fruits.
For spraying, drugs are used:
- "Karbofos";
- Chlorophos;
- Cyanox;
- Rogor.
After the plum has faded, the treatment is repeated.
In order to prevent early spring insects can be scared away by spraying the plum with wormwood infusion. In the fall, deep digging of the soil must be carried out around the infected trees.
Rapeseed sawfly
This pest is dangerous for cruciferous crops. Its larvae destroy the leaves and shoots of cabbage, radish, radish, turnip, mustard, turnip. Due to the damage done by the beetle, the plants cannot form fruit.
An adult grows up to 6–8 mm, its body color is yellow-orange with black spots. The larva is gray-green, 20–25 mm long.
If more than 10% of the vegetative mass of the culture is affected, insecticides are used:
- "Aktara";
- Actellik;
- Inta-Vir;
- "Confidor".
Compliance with the rules of crop rotation, deep loosening of the soil, regular weeding, and destruction of plant residues will help to reduce the number of pests.
Other types of sawfly
Cherry plantings are attacked by a pale-footed and slimy cherry sawfly. Pests also parasitize other fruit trees:
- apple trees,
- pears,
- cherries,
- mountain ash,
- turn.
If there are few larvae, they are shaken off onto the litter or collected by hand and burned.
In case of severe infection, insecticides are used:
- contact intestinal,
- pyrethroid,
- systemic.
An apple, gooseberry, star sawfly weaver may also appear at the dacha. The damage is done to the apple orchard, plantings of gooseberries, currants. The bread sawfly parasitizes wheat and other cereals.
The fight against insects begins as soon as their presence is noticed. On the site, it is necessary to cut out sick and dried trees in a timely manner - the pest often uses them for wintering.
Despite the harmfulness of the sawfly, it can be successfully dealt with. It is necessary to maintain cleanliness on the site, timely get rid of plant residues, dig up the soil - and the number of pests will significantly decrease. If the situation gets out of control, insecticidal preparations will come to the rescue.
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