Why does the caterpillar eat pepper
When holes appear on almost ripe fruits or only veins remain from the leaves, a caterpillar in pepper has appeared in the garden or in the greenhouse. You need to get rid of it as soon as possible, before the plants are severely damaged.
Caterpillars eat pepper
Why does the caterpillar appear
Often a moth-like butterfly flies in the beds - this is a scoop. She lives for about 3 weeks, but during this time she manages to lay eggs and thereby cause a lot of harm to summer residents and farmers.
The butterfly immediately chooses the plants on which the caterpillars will live and lays eggs on their leaves. Eggs are laid before or after rain. In dry weather, the eggs dry out.
The presence of a pest can not always be seen, especially if it hides during the day. Holes in the leaves, wilting of the plant, damage to the stem at the root, holes in the fruit are signs that the caterpillar is eating homemade pepper.
Caterpillars on pepper can be observed more often in the greenhouse than in the open field. This is due to the fact that they do not tolerate drought and sun very well. In a greenhouse, sunlight is limited and high humidity is ideal for breeding.
Caterpillars first live on weeds and cereals. When they lack food, they crawl to other crops. Pests are able to travel long distances, so they can crawl from another area. The winter scoop eats 150 different crops, and the gamma scoop eats about 390.
Varieties
There are many varieties of these insects, but two are found in summer cottages:
- Winter scoop.
- Gamma scoop.
Winter scoop
The winter scoop is a gnawing insect. Pests parasitize from below the leaves. It is this species that gnaws holes in fruits, eats roots and stems.
The caterpillar is grayish in color. The first days she lives on a plant, and then hides in the ground, and crawls out only at night. Therefore, it is difficult to detect and even harder to get rid of.
Gamma scoop
Gamma scoop is a leaf-eating pest. One butterfly lays about 1500 future larvae. Descendants from them are born in a week. The caterpillar eats green parts, gnaws at the pulp of vegetables. Lives on the stems of various crops and in the axils. They differ from winter scoops in color - they have a light green or green color with small gray specks. They hide in the soil for the winter.
When appear
Caterpillars appear twice per season.
In order to be prepared for the appearance of pests and to take timely measures to protect the pepper, you need to know when to expect them. Butterflies and caterpillars appear in two waves:
- In the spring, in April-May.
- In summer, from the second half of July to the end of September.
Pupae of the winter moth pupate in the spring, and the gamma in the fall. In the spring, the first butterflies begin to appear, which lay future offspring on young plants. After 60 - 70 days, a second wave of pests appears.
If the summer is hot, then the second generation of gamma butterflies does not lay eggs. During the second wave, winter moths begin to fly during the day, as they lack flowering plants. They begin to harm various plants by gnawing them.
Pest control
The fight against caterpillars sometimes becomes long and laborious.First of all, if pests appear in the garden, you need to collect and destroy them. Examine as many leaves as possible and destroy the eggs. If there are obvious traces of eating on the vegetables, but there are no pests themselves, then more radical measures need to be started.
To combat winter and gamma scoop, the same measures are used. They remove all weeds on the site and next to it, loosen the soil and treat the bushes with insecticides.
Prophylaxis
To prevent the appearance of caterpillars in spring and summer, butterflies are caught in traps with pheromones. To do this, put cans of kvass, beer or other sweet natural drink. In spring and autumn, soil is dug to a depth of 25 cm or more. Discovered larvae and pupae are removed. Since the goose is very tenacious, you need to be extremely careful to remove as much of the pest as possible, otherwise after a while the plants will again be invaded by scoops.
Conclusion
Bell pepper is a healthy and tasty vegetable. Both people and insect pests love him equally. To protect the crop from spoilage, you need to take into account the seasonal migration of butterflies.
The earlier the summer resident begins to fight the caterpillar, the less harm it does. Timely cleaning of weeds and placing simple traps will help to deal with the hidden pest.