"Winter Scoop" is a dangerous pest of cereals and vegetable crops. Description and photo of butterflies and scoop caterpillars, how to fight Winter scoops

The owl caterpillar is fruit pest and a threat to future crops by eating leaves and buds on trees and shrubs. She is so tenacious that she is able to survive even in the tropics and the Arctic desert. Only effective measures to combat the scoop at all stages of its development will help protect horticultural crops from damage.

Description of butterflies and caterpillars

Scoops are flying insects that look like a gray moth. Most great harm for plants, its caterpillars bring, which are so gluttonous and insatiable that in a few days they are able to deprive a tree or shrub of all green parts. They live in the soil, and find food for themselves by climbing the trunk and branches of horticultural crops.

Total worldwide distribution a large number of such butterflies, the main ones are: cabbage, garden, pea, gamma, winter, exclamation and gnawing.

Scoop caterpillars can reach a length of 4-5 cm. The average from egg to adult is 1 month. The larvae hatch after 4-10 days from the eggs laid by the female. During its existence for 14-20 days, the caterpillar actively feeds and grows, experiencing 5-6 age generations and molting 3-5 times. After that, it turns into a chrysalis, which develops underground for another 14-16 days. Only then do scoop butterflies appear, whose life is not very long and is up to 25 days.

Interesting!
The scoops got their name for their external resemblance to the birds of prey of the same name, which manifests itself in the form of a collar of thick hairs above the head, as well as a nocturnal lifestyle and wing colors. According to these features, they differ from.

As you can see in the photo, scoop caterpillars have a thick, hairless body and a characteristic stripe pattern: one light longitudinal one runs along the back, dark, thinner ones on the sides. Its color depends on the species: gray, green, yellow, brown, with pink or purple hues.

Harm from scoops

Scoop butterfly larvae are caterpillars, garden and garden pests that eat different kinds plants, almost all that are found on their way. Scoop caterpillars belong to the group of polyphages.

Scoop caterpillars are divided into 3 groups:

leaf-eating - feed on the green mass of plants (young stems, leaves, buds and inflorescences), attack trees and shrubs;
gnawing scoops - the so-called gray caterpillars that cut the plant near the roots, live in the soil and eat garden crops;
intrastem - live in thicker stems, gnawing them from the inside, which leads to the death of the plant.

Interesting!
To destroy a dozen plants in one night, it will take the efforts of 3-8 caterpillars of several types of such pests. Damage to the crop, which scoops can cause, is estimated at 100%. The older caterpillars of 5-6 generations destroy plantings as much as possible. There are also granary varieties that feed on grain in storage: common and grain cutworms.

Gnawing species that attack garden plants include:

winter scoop, whose caterpillars hibernate in the soil at a depth of up to 30 cm, and in spring move closer to the surface and plants. Every night they crawl up and devour leaves and young rosettes. They grow up to 5 cm in length, have a gray-earthy color with a greasy sheen, a light line on the back. Young gray caterpillars live in the ground in June-July and eat seedlings of beets, corn, sunflowers and other crops, in August they damage vegetables ripening in the beds, in autumn they can eat sown winter cereals and their seedlings.
Exclamatory scoop: its caterpillars are dark gray in color, body length is up to 3 cm. They feed on vegetable crops: cabbage, carrots, potatoes, etc.
Garden - develops in 2 generations: young caterpillars about 3 cm long have a color of various green shades (from light to dark brown). They are polyphagous, attack plantings of cabbage, beans, peppers, tomatoes, including in greenhouses. The adult generation of green and black caterpillars in the ground prefers not only leaves, but also the pulp of fruits, gnawing holes in them.
The caterpillar of the cabbage armyworm emerges from eggs laid by the female in May-June and from July to September on the undersides of the leaves of horticultural crops. Prefer cabbage, lettuce, beets and peas. Color of larvae: gray-green or yellow-brown, rarely black. Damaged cabbages spoil quickly and can spread phytopathogenic infections. ineffective, and chemicals are dangerous to humans.

Among leaf-eating scoop species, the most common is the yellow-brown moth scoop, which has yellowish-gray wings with spots and lines, framed by a light fringe. Its caterpillars differ from others by yellow dots and 5 longitudinal light lines along the back. Females lay their eggs on the buds and leaves of trees and shrubs from May to June, after a few days voracious larvae appear from them.

Caterpillar fight

Methods of dealing with caterpillar scoops are divided into folk and chemical.

The first ones include:

Manual collection of earthen caterpillars, which is best done at night, armed with a flashlight. At such hours, they crawl out onto the leaves of plants, where they are easy to detect, to then be thrown into a bucket of soapy water for destruction.
Place a plastic or cardboard fence up to 10 cm high around garden crops, which will prevent the larvae from reaching their roots.
Sprinkle cornmeal in the habitats of the caterpillars, after eating which they will die from its negative effect on digestion.
In greenhouses, butterflies can be controlled using pheromone and light traps.

The use of biological preparations and methods of combating caterpillars:

Lepidocide is a concentrated bioinsecticide, diluted 40-50 g per bucket of water.
Bitobaxicillin - a solution is prepared at the rate of 50 g of the product per 10 liters of water.
Bacterial preparations containing Bacillus thuringiensis are effectively used against young caterpillars. The bugs that have emerged from the spores destroy the eggs, sucking out their contents, and then the young larvae that have appeared.
Used to destroy caterpillars and special means containing Podisus maculiventris and Picromerus bidens L.

On a note!
If the caterpillars continue to multiply, then the plants should be re-treated. Spraying with biological products is carried out at a temperature of more than + 18 ° C in dry weather in the absence of dew, the optimal period is from 18 to 20.00 in the evening.

Chemicals

There are methods and techniques, scoops, which have already bred heavily on plants in the garden or in the garden. For this use chemicals with the content of deltamethrin: Biorin and Super Fas, which will quickly and effectively get rid of pests. However, treatment should be carried out every 3-7 days, taking into account different time emergence of larvae from eggs.

Another group is preparations of the neonicotinoids group: Aktara, Komfidor, which are designed to combat leaf-eating insects and larvae. They have a systemic long-term effect, poisoning pests through the green parts of plants and fruits.

Caterpillar Prevention

In order to reduce damage from the appearance of scoop butterfly larvae, experts recommend using folk remedies and other methods of prevention:

regularly destroy weeds, especially flowering ones, in the aisles and along the border of the plot, on which butterflies land for food;
during periods of reproduction and the creation of egg laying, females should more often deeply loosen the soil in the aisles of the garden;
during the mass summer of butterflies, traps are set from containers with water, to which beer or jam is added, which attracts the smell of pests;
spray vegetable plantings infusion of flowering wormwood, which is prepared at the rate of 300 g of raw materials, 1 tbsp. ash and 1 tbsp liquid soap for 10 liters of boiling water, then cover with a lid and leave for 5-6 hours, after cooling, immediately spray;
after harvesting vegetables, be sure to do deep digging in the fall to collect and destroy scoop pupae;
for the purpose of prevention, it is recommended to annually treat plants before flowering with complex preparations: Fufanon, Kinmiks, Aktellik, Iskra, Inta-Vir, Kemifos, etc.

The fight against caterpillars and scoop butterflies continues almost the entire season using various methods and funds. Only constant thorough inspection and care of horticultural and horticultural crops will make it possible to take all necessary measures to exterminate such pests in a timely manner.

The scoop, what is it, is a butterfly - a night bat from a very large family, which consists of 15 subfamilies and over 35 thousand. night scoop belong to an even larger order of Lepidoptera, which is represented by a huge number of moths, butterflies and moths.

Scoops pests are considered the most dangerous and malicious insects different cultures , despite its completely harmless appearance.

What does it look like?

Insect sizes. The average wingspan is 2.5-3 cm, the minimum is 0.8-1 cm, and the maximum belongs to the scoop agrippina - a tropical beauty with a span of about 30 cm. It belongs to the most big butterflies among the world's fauna.

The body length of adults is on average 12-15 mm, larvae (caterpillars) - 3.5-3.9 cm. Pupa length - 2-2.3 cm.

Scoop pest photo.

Appearance. The head is usually round, with simple antennae and large, rounded eyes, which may be bare or fringed with short and long eyelashes. The proboscis is well developed, twisted in the form of a spiral. It contains taste receptors.

The entire surface of the body (breast, abdomen and head) is densely covered with scales and hairs. Many varieties have in addition, specific tufts of long hairs. They may be located on different parts torso.

On the paws there are brushes with which the scoops clean the antennae, spikes and spurs. The auditory organs are located on the back and abdomen are superbly developed.

The wings are shaped like triangles - rounded, isosceles or elongated. The front ones are always longer than the back ones, they fold in the form of a roof. In some species, the wings are adapted for long and high-speed flight., so they have parallel edges and a long, narrow shape.

The coloring is usually nondescript, the main color can be beige, gray, chestnut and dark brown. The front wings are painted round, wedge-shaped and oval spots, transverse lines, winding stripes.

The hindwings are most often monochromatic, sometimes decorated with discoid spots and a border around the edge of a darker shade. The coloration is often faded, gray or beige, but some subfamilies have yellow wings, blue or red.

Owls are the only family of insects that have the ability to echolocate. They pick up ultrasound up to 150 kHz. They use this skill simultaneously with visual perception.

Where is it found?

Representatives of the largest family are distributed almost everywhere, including the tundra and deserts of the Arctic. Only in Europe, including Russia and CIS countries, there are about 2 thousand species.

Development Features

In spring, the flight of adults and mating begins.. During this period, adults require enhanced nutrition, which is possible only if there are suitable flowering plants.

After that, the female begins to lay eggs every day and continues the entire period of her life. Caterpillars begin to appear within a week. They are distinguished by nocturnal activity and strong voracity.

Through all generations, spring caterpillar pupates in summer, hiding under the leaves or in the ground. After a while, an adult butterfly emerges from the pupa.

Over the summer, 1 or several generations of pests may appear, depending on the characteristics of the species and weather conditions.

Optimal development conditions.

All types of scoops prefer warm weather., the most suitable temperature ranges from 21-28 °. Reducing it to at least 17-18° causes a decline in the activity of all life processes, in butterflies there is an underdevelopment of the products of the reproductive system, fertility drops sharply.

Many species, in addition, can only exist if high humidity - not less than 80%. In the presence of optimal criteria huge pest populations develop.

During the winter most favorable conditions is an mild winter without severe frosts and thick layer snow throughout the cold season.

How many lives?

The full life cycle of the scoop takes about 50-70 days with favorable climatic conditions. Lowering the temperature slows down normal growth and increases the development time.

Eggs develop in 4-10 days, the caterpillar goes through 5-6 generations and up to 5 molts, this process takes an average of 14-19 days.

Then the larva pupates and develops underground for about 14-16 days.

The life span of adults after emerging from the pupa lasts from 12 to 25 days.

Scoop eggs

What do they look like?

Eggs are spherical or hemispherical in shape. The top is rounded, the bottom is flattened. The diameter varies from 0.4 to 0.9 mm. The color is most often light - it can be white, cream, light yellow, greenish, blue, pale brown.

The surface is usually ribbed and shiny, sometimes cellular. As the eggs develop, they may darken and change color. For example, the eggs of the cotton bollworm turn almost black. shortly before the larvae emerge.

How scoop eggs look like, see the photo.

Where is it deposited?

The female hides the eggs, placing them on the ground, in plant debris., on the inside fodder leaf blades or weeds. The shape of the masonry is irregular and asymmetrical. It can be in the form of spots, winding rows and lines.

For additional protection, the female covers the eggs with its own hairs and scales or secretions of special glands.

How many in a clutch?

Owl females are famous for their fertility for good reason. One adult produces from 2 hundred to 3 thousand eggs for my short life. She lays eggs daily, placing them singly or in groups. The clutch may include from 2 to 150 eggs. The amount depends on the type.

For example, the cabbage scoop lays a clutch of 100 eggs, and the gamma scoop lays eggs one or two, maximum 5.

Larva (caterpillar)

What does it look like?

It has an elongated thick body, most often naked, rarely covered with sparse hairs. They can be evenly distributed throughout the body or grouped in small groups.

The main color is green, gray, yellow or chestnut, with purple and pink tints. Drawing characteristic of the scoop family, it includes a longitudinal light stripe running along the back, and thinner and darker stripes on the sides.

Scoop larvae photo.

The larvae have thoracic legs (3 pairs), ventral legs (3-5 pairs) and false legs (4 pairs). The youngest and oldest caterpillars often do not have ventral legs, or they are underdeveloped.

Stages of development.

Scoop caterpillars molt 3 to 5 times during growth, depending on the species and habitat conditions. They go through 5 or 6 generations. Larvae of the first two instars are considered young., adults - the last two. In many species of scoops, it is the adult larvae that hide for the winter, which, after emerging, severely damage young shoots, seeds, and buds of fodder plants.

Caterpillars scoop photo.

The stages of development do not look very different from each other., only the proportions of the torso and head change. Initially, the large head is reduced, and the body is elongated. The coloring remains largely unchanged.

insect pupa

What does it look like? Pupae predominantly closed type, are painted in reddish chestnut color, less often reddish and dark brown. The cremaster has 2 to 4 spines or outgrowths.

Pupation occurs in the soil or litter of plant residues, the pupa is closed by a cocoon of cobwebs.

What does it eat?

Imago in the period of flight and mating feeds on the pollen of flowering plants. without causing any damage to them. The owl and its caterpillars represent serious problem, eating ground parts and destroying plants.

Scoop caterpillars fall into three categories:

Intrastem- settle in thick stems and feed on their contents, causing the death of the entire plant.
Gnawing- live in the ground, gnaw roots and basal parts.
leaf-eating- live on plants, eating all the green mass - leaves, young stems and shoots, buds and inflorescences. This category includes most representatives of the scoop.

Butterfly scoop photo.

What plants are damaged?

The family of scoops almost entirely consists of polyphages. The scoop is classified as a pest of cereals, vegetables, ornamental, fruit, pome and stone fruits., technical, legumes, cruciferous, oilseed, berry, coniferous, greenhouse, greenhouse crops, vine, perennial herbs, lawns, nurseries and meadows.

In general, it can be said that the percentage of plants that do not attract cutworm caterpillars is very small.

What harm does it do?

Scoops have long been considered dangerous pests of various crops., some species are assigned to the quarantine type. These are gnawing, meadow, Asian cotton, cabbage and Finnish scoops.

For the complete destruction of 10 plants during the night, only 2-3 to 7-8 caterpillars are required. different types. Therefore, the damage caused by scoops is colossal and amounts to 100% of the total crop.

Some species are also barn pests. Once in storage, they do not die, but continue to eat the grain put in storage. For such types of scoops, as grain and ordinary grain, dry grain seems to be no worse than fresh.

It should be taken into account that what better conditions habitat, the more prolific the females, the more active the caterpillars, the faster the destruction of poor plants. The older caterpillars of the latest generations cause the greatest damage.

Where does it winter?

For the winter, scoops hide thoroughly, burrowing into the ground to a depth of 10 cm. In addition, they can settle in heaps of plant debris, under hay or straw. Grain pests can overwinter in storage facilities and on currents.

Conclusion

Still, why are butterflies called scoops? The head of all species is emphasized by a collar of soft thick hairs, which is located immediately behind it. This external feature distinguishes the scoop from other butterflies and gives them a slight resemblance to predatory owls. The similarity is enhanced by the modest coloring of the wings and the nocturnal lifestyle.

These qualities only exacerbate the difficulty with harmful scoops. However, it is vital to deal with the destruction of butterflies, their larvae and clutches with eggs. for the good of your plants. It is very disappointing to lose all the efforts of your labors due to some small insects.

Useful video!

In the photo Winter Owl

Early violet-grey cutworm Orthosia incerta Hdn. (syn. Taeniocampa incerta Hfn.) - a butterfly with a wingspan of 35-37 mm. The forewings are purple-gray with a reddish-brown tint, the hindwings are yellowish-white, with gray pollen. On the forewings are two large blurry spots with white edges and a wavy whitish line.

In the photo, the caterpillar of the winter scoop

The caterpillar of the winter scoop is green, with a light pattern, has a white or yellow line on the back and light yellow on the sides.

The pupa is red-brown. Caterpillars feed during May - July on fruit and deciduous trees and shrubs.

See how the scoop caterpillars look in the photo, which shows the different stages of their development:

Control measures or how to get rid of scoop caterpillars, is described below, the most relevant means are proposed.

Collection and destruction of single caterpillars. Preventive annual spraying of plants before flowering against a complex of pests with drugs: Fufanon, Kemifos, Kinmiks, Aktellik, Iskra, Inta-Vir, also reduces the number of scoops.

In the photo, the Scoop is yellow-brown

Early yellow-brown cutworm Orthosia stabilis Schiff. (syn. Taeniocampaaa stabilis View) - a butterfly with a wingspan of 35 mm. Forewings brownish-red yellow tint. There is a wavy whitish line and spots with light edges. A number of small black dots are visible near the transverse line. Hindwings are yellowish-gray, with a light fringe.

Unlike the scoop butterfly, the caterpillar does not have such an attractive appearance.

In the photo, the caterpillar of the Yellow-brown Scoop

It is green, with small yellowish dots and five yellowish longitudinal lines on the back.

The penultimate ring has a yellow cross line. The flight of butterflies is observed in April, after fertilization, the females lay their eggs on the buds and leaves of shrubs and trees. Feeding and development of caterpillars is observed in late May - June. Early yellow-brown scoop is common on apple, oak and many deciduous trees. It occurs constantly on strawberries due to the presence of green leaves on overwintered bushes.

Fighting methods with caterpillars of cutworms are the same as against violet-gray cutworms.

In the photo, the scoop is brown-gray

Early brown-gray cutworm Orthosia gothica L. (syn. Taeniocampa gothica L.) - a butterfly with a wingspan of 35-37 mm, the front wings are brown-gray with a light wavy stripe and thin white transverse lines. Between the kidney-shaped and black oblong spots there is a black space with annular spots, the hindwings are gray-brown.

In the photo, the caterpillar of the brown-gray Scoop

The caterpillar of the nibbling scoop is green, with a green head, three whitish-yellow lines pass on the back, there is a wide white stripe on the sides. Brown pupa. Caterpillars feed in April-May fruit trees, shrubs and many herbaceous plants.

Control measures the same as against early violet-gray cutworm.

In the photo the Bluehead Owl

Blue-headed scoop, or blue-headed scoop Diloba coeruleocephala L. (syn. Episema coeruleocephala L..), - a brownish-gray moth, with a wingspan of 40 mm. The fore wings are violet-gray, with a large yellowish-white spot, consisting of three small ones, the base of the wings is brownish, with a reddish spot. The same stain is present on inner corner wing. The hindwings are light grey, with an indistinct spot and a dark posterior angle. The fight against the caterpillar of the bluehead scoop should begin long before the departure of the butterflies.

In the photo, the caterpillar of the Bluehead Scoop

Caterpillar bluish white, 35-38 mm long, has yellowish lines on the back and sides and black tubercles along the body, covered with hairs. The pupa is red-brown in color, covered with bluish-gray pollen. Eggs hibernate on branches near the buds. In early spring caterpillars hatch and feed on buds, leaves and fruits, roughly eating them. Gnawing remains on the damaged ovaries, which are later visible as brown, healed damage to the fruit. Having finished feeding, the caterpillars pupate in June in dense cobweb white cocoons in the crevices of the bark. In September - early October, butterflies fly out and, after fertilization, the females lay their eggs on branches. One generation of the pest develops per year.

Owl damages everything fruit crops, many berry bushes and forest species.

Control measures the same as against the early violet-gray cutworm.

winter scoop — Scotia segetum (agrotis segetum)

Class: Insects - Insecta

Squad: Lepidoptera or Butterflies - Lepidoptera

Family: Scoops - Noctuidae

In Russia, it is distributed everywhere, except for the northern regions of the European part of Russia, Siberia and Far East. It shows the greatest harmfulness in the North Caucasian, Central Black Earth and Volga regions.

The winter scoop damages more than 140 plant species, most severely - winter rye and wheat, hemp, potatoes, cabbage, tobacco and gourds, sugar beet, corn, cotton. From wild, it can feed on bindweed, plantain and sow thistle. In Ukraine, it is distributed everywhere. Caterpillars hurt.

Caterpillars of younger ages scrape off the parenchyma from the underside of the leaves, medium-sized caterpillars eat holes in the leaves, older caterpillars roughly eat leaves, gnaw seedlings and seedlings.

Butterfly with a wingspan of 35-45 mm. The forewings are grayish-brown with well-defined owl-shaped spots (kidney-shaped, round and wedge-shaped), which are bordered by a black line. The hindwings are almost white with a darkened outer margin. Antennae of females bristle-shaped, of males feathery for 2/3 of their length. Eggs are hemispherical, white, 0.5-0.6 mm in diameter with 45-48 radial ribs. Caterpillars of the first three instars are earthy-gray or grayish-reddish, dull; late instars - with a glossy epicuticle, a dark narrow stripe along the back; pectoral legs five pairs, sixth instar caterpillar length up to 52 mm; the frontal sutures converge near the foramen magnum.

The pupa is red-brown, 18-20 mm long, on the pygidium there are two thin processes that diverge somewhat to the sides and are bent towards the top (in the form of a pitchfork). On the dorsal side there are 5-7 segments of the abdomen - 1 or 2 rows of large pits. Caterpillars of the sixth age hibernate at a depth of 10-25 cm. The success of overwintering depends on the development of the fat body. Caterpillars of younger ages die at temperatures below -5°C. With the onset of elevated spring temperatures, the caterpillars rise to the upper soil balls 5-6 cm and pupate in oval earthen chambers. The development of pupae of the winter scoop lasts - 25-35 days.

In the Steppe and Forest-Steppe, the first instar moth flight begins in May and lasts until the end of June. Butterflies live from 5 to 25, sometimes up to 40 days. During the day, they hide under plant debris and even under lumps of soil. They fly at night. For the maturation of eggs, butterflies need to feed on the nectar of flowers for 4-12 days, which they do in evening time.

Optimal conditions for butterflies of the winter cutworm: temperature 15-25°C and humidity 50-80%. The female lays eggs under one, rarely in small groups, on dry plant residues, the underside of weed leaves (birch, gauze, plantain) and even on the soil, choosing well-warmed soils with sparse vegetation. Fertility up to 2000 eggs. Embryonic development lasts from 3 to 24 days and is very dependent on temperature (at a temperature of 29-30 ° C - 4 days, and at 10-12 ° C - up to 24 days).

The destruction of weeds in fallow fields leads to a deterioration in the conditions for laying eggs by butterflies Cultivation of fallow fields during the period of the end of egg laying and the beginning of hatching of caterpillars leads to mass death of caterpillars. Inter-row cultivation of tilled crops during the period of scoop pupation. In the zone of one generation of the winter cutworm, the introduction of busy fallows intended for sowing winter cereals, which prevents the accumulation of the pest. Monitoring and signaling using pheromone traps is possible.

In the zone where the winter scoop develops in two generations, on sugar beet crops and on fallow fields for winter crops with a population of more than 20-25 eggs per 1 m², it is recommended to release Trichogramma at 30 thousand individuals per 1 ha in two steps: at the beginning and during mass oviposition. On sugar beet, if there are more than 1-3 caterpillars per 1 m² on seedlings or 3-5 after the whorl closing phase, spray the crops with bacterial preparations against younger caterpillars: lepidocide, P (0.6-1 kg / ha); bitoxibacillin, P (2 kg/ha), virin, dendrobacillin and entobacterin. On winter wheat Karate Zeon 050 CS, mk.s. up to 0.5 l/ha At the same abundance thresholds on sugar beet and cabbage, spray sugar beet crops with ash, EC (3-3.5 l/ha), and cabbage with the following insecticides, EC (l/ha): decis - 0 ,3, decis extra - 0.06, Fosbescid - 0.5. On corn, winter rye and wheat, before sowing, if there are more than 2-3 caterpillars per 1 m², carry out seed treatment or application to the soil simultaneously with sowing the same preparations as against click beetles.

Winter scoop photo

Winter Scoop - Scotia segetum (agrotis segetum) photo

Caterpillar of the Winter Scoop - Scotia segetum (agrotis segetum) photo

Oviposition of the Winter Scoop - Scotia segetum (agrotis segetum) photo

Oviposition of the Winter Scoop - Scotia segetum (agrotis segetum) photo

When a small, dim butterfly, a scoop, appears in your garden, you should be wary, as its caterpillar, very voracious and omnivorous, can cause great damage to the crop. More than a hundred species of scoops harm various plants in our gardens and dachas: gnawing, garden, winter, cabbage, swamp, etc. And despite the large number existing methods fight against cutworms, as garden pests, they spread very well.

All cutworms, their butterflies and larvae, are active only at night. According to the method of nutrition, they are divided into:

leaf-eating (cabbage, alfalfa, garden) live on the ground;
gnawing (winter, swamp, gnawing, wild) lead an underground lifestyle.

Getting rid of the armyworm is not easy, as it is unpredictable and harmful different plants: tomatoes, beans, cabbage, swedes, turnips, corn, sunflowers, rhubarb, onions, beets and even garlic, cereals, and especially winter crops - wheat and rye.

Methods of dealing with scoops

Gardeners in the fight against the scoop use different methods for each state of the scoop: butterflies, caterpillars and pupae.

How to get rid of a butterfly owl?

hang at a height of 1 meter pheromone traps or containers with fermenting kvass or (then be sure to add a little water and fermenting liquid);
destroy weeds, especially flowering ones, which leads to the depletion of scoop butterflies due to the lack of nectar for food.

How to get rid of caterpillars and pupae?

digging for the winter and loosening the row spacing is very effective, as they hibernate in the soil at a depth of up to 8 cm;
collect larvae by hand;
alternate planting (for example: potatoes with black fallow);
spray with insecticides: in spring - Decis, Karate, Proteus, Fury, and in summer with organophosphate preparations - Fufanon, Zolon, Dursban, Danadim. The rates of use depend on the form of release of drugs (granules, powder, emulsion concentrate). Use, observing the dosage indicated in the instructions, carry out processing in the evening, no later than a month before harvesting. No more than two treatments are allowed per year;
applying granulated Bazudin when planting potatoes (15–20 kg/ha) in moist soil is an effective control measure against caterpillars of the nibbling cutworm;
spray with biological preparations Agrovertin, Aktofit, Fitoverm and organic insecticide Natur Guard.

How to destroy the scoop folk methods?

Its effectiveness depends on the timely start of the fight against scoops. The most difficult is to determine the time of appearance of pests to establish correct timing start processing. If you are late with spraying for a few days, then after the penetration of the caterpillars into the fruit, the treatment becomes practically useless. predict development harmful insects It is possible with the help of pheromone traps that help determine the period of mass arrival of scoop butterflies and the appearance of caterpillars.