How to deal with potato moth and win

The potato moth is a widespread insect that harms potatoes and other nightshade crops. It is difficult to detect moths at the initial stage of damage to crops, which complicates the fight against these insects.

Insect larvae destroy young shoots and tubers. The tubers affected by the pest are penetrated with numerous winding passages. In the fight against pest use chemical, agrotechnical and folk methods.

Who is potato moth

Potato moth (fluorimea) is a thermophilic pest that can cause tremendous damage to nightshade crops... Its caterpillars damage many plants, but fluorimea is most harmful potatoes.

Moth larvae hibernate in soil and plant debris, easily tolerate temperature changes, and survive even in frozen tubers. In winter, she lives and eats in vegetable repositoriesin which the temperature does not drop below + 10 ° С. The pest can be found on the surface of wooden boxes in the form of attached pupae in a silky gray cocoon that resembles a cobweb.

It is difficult to find a nondescript potato moth, since the insect leaves the shelter late in the evening. However, if you shake the insect-infested potato bushes, small gray-brown butterflies will fly into the air. You will find cocoons with pupae on the outside of the leaves or in their axils.

Description and characteristics of the pest

In appearance, it is an inconspicuous butterfly with gray wings covered with black dots, which, when the wings are folded, turn into solid black stripes. The edges of the wings are uneven, wavy. The butterfly has a pronounced reduced oral cavity: the life span of an adult individual (imago) is 2-3 days, in rare cases - 7-12 days... The body length of the insect is 6-7 mm.

The larvae (caterpillars) reach a length of 11-12 mm. In the process of development, the larvae turn into pupae, then into butterflies. Pupa length is about 12 mm.

Caterpillars are pale pink, with a light longitudinal stripe along the back. The potato moth lays 0.5mm eggs on the inside of the leaves. The laid eggs are white and darken as they grow.

Reference! Larvae develop within 3 days.

The larva turns into a silvery-gray pupa.

An adult caterpillar reaches a length of 12-13 mm. Its color depends on the habitat: the pests of the tops have a greenish tint, on the tubers - a white-pink tint. All species have a brown head.

Life cycle

During the summer period, the life cycle is about 30 days. During the summer, one female makes 3-4 clutches of eggs. When the temperature drops in winter, the entire cycle takes 2 to 4 months.

The duration of the development of the pest is affected by the temperature regime:

• at + 30 ... + 35 ° C - development lasts 15-17 days;
• at + 20 ... + 28 ° C - 28-30 days;
• at + 13 ... + 18 ° C - 65-70 days;
• at + 10 ... + 13 ° C - 3-4 months;
• less than + 10 ° C - more than 4 months.

On average, in the summer warm time from the moment of laying eggs to the sexually mature stage, it takes 30-35 days.

Adults live no more than 10-14 days. During this time, they mate and lay eggs.In one clutch, there are usually 18-20 eggs, in 14-20 days the butterfly lays about 200 eggs.

Caterpillars mature in 3-6 days inside the eggs. Within 10-15 days, they cocoon themselves, turning into pupae. Within 5 days, butterflies fly out of the pupae, which immediately mate and lay eggs.

Pupae can overwinter under the remains of tops or in vegetable rooms. In the spring, new butterflies attack the potato fields.

What does she eat

Potato moth has a keen sense of smell, it can smell the smell of potatoes even through bags. If the potato crop is left on the field, the butterflies instantly populate in it.

The insect caterpillars settle inside the tubers, which serve as their main food, gradually destroying the crop during winter storage.

The larvae of the pest are omnivorous, leaves, young shoots, and fruits become their victims in the summer.

Where do potato flies come from?

The spread of the pest occurs by moving them from potato beds to vegetable warehouses for winter storage of crops. They hibernate in potatoes, and in the spring they move to the plots in planting material. The pest can overwinter under uncleared plant debris on the soil.

Are they dangerous and what is their harm

The insect parasitizes both outdoors and in vegetable warehouses. The caterpillars of the potato moth bring harm.

What does harm to potatoes

Caterpillars of the potato moth:

• destroy the green mass of plants, which leads to the weakening of vegetable crops;
• damage the tubers, after which the crop becomes unsuitable for consumption and storage;
• under favorable conditions for insects, the larvae can completely destroy the crop;
• caterpillars destroy tender leaves and young shoots at high speed, then adult plants, insects inflict the greatest harm on ripening tubers.

Is it harmful to humans

The potato moth destroys nightshade crops. The insect does not harm a person directly, but tubers pierced and eaten by caterpillars become unsuitable for human consumption.

Signs of pest damage

The presence of an insect can be detected by examining the central vein of the outer side of the leaves. When populated with moths, cobwebs and insect excrement are visible on it. Caterpillars feed on the outside of the leaves, after which the leaves become deformed and dry out.

Insects quickly move along the leaves, feeding on them, then move to potatoes. Wherever pests have been, excrement and cobwebs are visible. The parasites enter the tubers through cracks in the soil and eyes. On the cut of the affected tuber, numerous thin passages are visible. Damaged vegetables take on an ugly shape.

These potatoes become inedible.

How to get rid of potato moths

A set of measures, including chemical, agrotechnical and folk remedies, relieves the potato moth. Much attention is paid to preventive measures.

Effective insect control methods slow down the development and growth of the pest at all stages.

Chemicals

When butterflies appear on the culture before flowering, drugs are used:

1. "Bitoxibacillin" - has an intestinal effect on insects, does not cause adaptation. To prepare a working solution, 100 ml of the drug is diluted in 10 liters of water. Spraying the bushes is carried out in the morning or evening hours. Treatment of bushes with this drug will destroy the larvae, reduce the fertility of females.
2. "Dendrobacillin" - used to destroy caterpillars in the initial and middle stages of development. A solution is prepared, consisting of 70-100 g of insecticide and 10 liters of water. A double treatment is carried out with an interval of 7 days. If necessary, after a month, the treatment is repeated.
3. "Lepidocide" - a microbiological insecticide used at all stages of the growing season of a crop, including the period before harvest. The drug does not affect the taste characteristics of potatoes, does not accumulate in the soil. To spray the bushes, 30-50 ml of the drug is diluted in 5 liters of water.Plants are treated twice with an interval of 10 days.

Also at the beginning of summer, they use drugs "Arrivo", "Decis", "Inta-VIR", "Sherpa". The treatment is repeated two weeks later, alternating preparations.

Attention! The last treatment with chemicals is carried out no later than 20 days before harvest.

Folk ways

To combat potato moths, folk remedies are used to reduce the number of parasites in potato beds.

1. A glass of chopped wormwood and a glass of wood ash are poured into 3 liters of boiling water, insisted for 3-4 hours. The infusion is filtered and the plants are sprayed, wetting the underside of the leaves.
2. In 5 liters of water, 250 g of wormwood, 50-80 g of onion husks, 100 g of grated laundry soap are soaked. The composition is brought to a boil, kept for 2-3 hours and the culture is sprayed.
3. Leaves and stems of celandine in an amount of 1 kg are boiled for 7-10 minutes. in 5 liters of water, then cool. For spraying, the mixture is additionally diluted with another 5 liters of water.

To attract moths, traps are prepared: sliced ​​fruits filled with sweet syrup are placed in small containers. The mole accumulated in the syrup is destroyed.

Agrotechnical methods

In the fight against potato moth, agronomic measures are important:

1. Tubers are planted to the maximum allowable depth, since the pest quickly attacks vegetables that are close to the soil surface.
2. The beds are regularly spud so that the layer thickness above the tubers is at least 15 cm. With this layer of earth, it is more difficult for insects to get to the fruits.
3. The crop is harvested until the tops are completely dry. Many gardeners, 7-10 days before the intended harvest, mow the tops and immediately remove them from the beds so that the pest does not move to the tubers.
4. Some farmers warm up the planting material. This destroys most of the larvae.

Timely removal of weeds will reduce the population of the insect parasite, since the moth often settles in thickets of wild-growing solanaceous plants, then moves to vegetable crops.

Important! The larvae in the tubers die at + 40 ° C. Warming up is carried out for 2-3 hours.

Post-harvest struggle

It is not recommended to leave the harvested crop in the beds, a pest may remain on the tops, which will immediately move to the tubers.

To prevent insect breeding in the beds, the tops are immediately removed from the beds, the soil is dug up.

How to treat potatoes from moths when laying for storage

To protect the crop from the insect parasite, the harvested potatoes are immersed for 5-7 minutes in a 1% solution of biological products: "Lepidocide" or "Bitoxi-bacillin" (100 g of the drug per 10 liters of water). After that, the potatoes are dried, then placed in winter storage.

Also, for the processing of the crop, a composition is prepared from the biological preparations "Lepidocide" and "Planriz". "Planriz" is added to prevent fungal infections. In 10 liters of water, 200 ml of "Lepidocide" and 50 ml of "Planriz" are diluted. Potatoes are soaked in this mixture for 10-15 minutes. After that, the roots are dried.

Attention! It is not recommended to store a solution of biological components; it is used immediately after preparation.

To destroy the larvae of moths at the harvest, the tubers are treated with a solution of ethyl bromide.

How to prevent potato flies

Before landing cultures carry out a thorough examination of the seed. The skin of the tubers should be free of holes, indicating the presence of larvae.

The vegetable storage room before laying the crop for storage is disinfected by whitewashing the walls with quicklime.

For the destruction of butterflies, smoke bombs "Gamma", "Fas" or fumigants are used.

Treatment of the premises and tubers with a solution of the biological preparation "Entobacterin" will help prevent the appearance of moths. After processing the premises, adult insects lose activity, are not able to lay eggs in root crops.

Tips & Tricks

Farmers have noticed that adding a little wood ash to each hole during planting reduces the likelihood of caterpillar damage to the tubers.

For prevention, a competent crop rotation is observed: potatoes on the site are not planted after growing other nightshade crops.

Important! It is not recommended to plant potatoes in the same area for several years in a row.

To protect root crops from damage by moth larvae, spud the beds regularly.

Watering potato bushes by sprinkling will significantly reduce the number of pests. This will kill most of the adult butterflies.

Conclusion

The potato moth is a common insectpest, the larvae of which are capable of destroying young seedlings, adult plants, tubers in the ground and the harvested crop during storage.

The fight against this pest is complex: folk methods, chemicals, adherence to correct cultivation techniques, treatment of the site and seed material before planting in open ground.