Arthropods • Earth.com

Scrobipalpa ocellatella

(Scrobipalpa ocellatella)

Description

Scrobipalpa ocellatella, the beet moth, is a moth in the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Boyd in 1858. It is found on Madeira and the Canary Islands, and in North Africa, most of Europe, the Middle East, Iran, from the southern part of European Russia to the Caucasus, as well as in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Turkmenistan. The wingspan is 12–14 mm. The forewings are grey-brown, with a yellow pattern and small black spots. The hindwings are light grey. The larvae feed on Beta maritima and Beta vulgaris. Young larvae bore in the mirdrib. Later, they mine the leaf from a web spun over of the leaf. The larvae have a grey green body with vague reddish-brown length lines and a light brown head. Hibernating in the upper layer of soil pupae in cocoons and caterpillars of different ages in the remains after harvesting. During the winter, the caterpillars that are in the tops usually die. Survive only those that were in the heads of root crops, which remain in the field and in the knapsacks. The output of butterflies from pupae that have wintered, and at the same time pupation of caterpillars of V age, coincides with the appearance of sprouts of sugar beet. Butterflies do not need additional nutrition, however, during drier periods, dew drops are sucked out. Active in the evening, night and morning hours. The life expectancy of butterflies is 12–18 days. Females lay 2-3 eggs on the underside of the leaves, the aerial part of the root crops, plant remains and lumps of soil. Fertility is 100-150 eggs. The caterpillars born after 5–8 days first scrape the parenchyma, then braid the central leaves with cobwebs and eat through holes along the middle vein of the leaf and groove on the petioles. On adult beet plants they are under the swirling edges of the leaves and inside the cuttings or in the passages inside the head of the root crop. Damage is noted throughout the season, beginning with the appearance of 2-3 pairs of real leaves before harvesting. Caterpillars pass through five ages during the 25–30 days of development. They are hygrophilic, therefore, in a dry and hot weather, their mass death is observed. After completing nutrition they pupate in oval spider cocoons in the soil at a depth of 2–5 cm. In the case of significant damage to plants, the growth of new leaves stops. Instead of a central beam, a black, loose lump of spiderweaved leaves is formed. Particularly dangerous are damage to the root beet roots, as they become unsuitable for winter storage in burts. At the landing, the caterpillars damage the flower-bearing shoots, turning the courses in them, which leads to their curving and drying. As a result, additional sprouts appear that give small and inferior seeds. The danger increases in the second half of summer due to the increase in pest numbers in the second and subsequent generations. The number of beet miner moths reduces more than 50 species of predators and parasites. Caterpillars infect parasites from the family of eulofids. Protection measures. Due to the fact that the damaged root crops rot quickly, harvesting is primarily necessary in the fields where the moth caused significant damage, and hand it over to the plants for urgent processing. After harvesting sugar beet and testes, free plantations from plant debris and carry out deep autumn plowing. Eliminate the growing seed of the seed, which creates the conditions for the development of the third and fourth generations of the pest. Carefully discard damaged root crops before storing them in the kagata. In spring, after opening the kagats and selecting the roots of the mother birch, all scraps and the top layer of the soil should be thrown to the bottom of the kagate and covered with a layer of earth not less than 50 cm thick. The field is to be plowed. With a dangerous abundance, presowing seed treatment with systemic insecticides should be carried out. Economic threshold of damage: in the phenophase 6-8 leaves-0.5 caterpillars per plant; at the beginning of the formation of root crops-0,8-1 caterpillar per plant; at the beginning of the withering away of leaves-2 caterpillars per plant. When the number of pests exceeding these thresholds, treatment of sugar beet crops with insecticides is necessary.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Family:Gelechiidae
Genus:Scrobipalpa
News coming your way
The biggest news about our planet delivered to you each day