It would seem that the meadow moth, in accordance with its name, should flutter on lawns and meadows. But no, the natural spaces do not attract him. The insect tries to stay close to agricultural lands and occupies plantations of sunflowers, sugar beets, legumes, cereals, vegetables, and melons. Polyphagous behavior, rapid reproduction, long-distance migrations and cyclical outbreaks of increased population growth place the meadow moth on the pedestal of the most dangerous and insidious pests of fields and vegetable gardens.
Description and appearance
The family of moths is very numerous and includes many species. In essence, a moth is the same butterfly, but nocturnal individuals differ from daytime ones in the time they are awake and slightly in their appearance.
Night butterflies have a massive, dense body, which is abundantly covered with villi, while day butterflies have a more slender, elongated body, and there are noticeably fewer villi. The moth's head is round, containing eyes, a proboscis (sometimes atrophied), and antennae (usually feathery or filamentous). There are three pairs of legs on the chest. Two pairs of wings, with the upper ones noticeably better developed. You can distinguish a night moth by the color of its wings - it is duller, inconspicuous, and dark shades predominate.
Butterfly
Morphology
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“>the wings are brownish-gray with a pair of parallel stripes along the outer edge.
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">wings. Labial palps are short, 1 1/2–2 1/3 times longer than the diameter of the eye and directed obliquely upward. Maxillary palps with brush of scales.
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Sexual Dimorphism is the presence of two different forms of individuals within one species, a special case of polymorphism.
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“>The egg is flat-oval, yellowish-white with a pearlescent tint. Length 0.8–1 mm. Width 0.4–0.5 mm.
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“>Color varies from light green to almost black. There are shiny lines on the sides of the body; on the back there are two yellow intermittent stripes, limiting the middle dark wide stripe. The surface of the entire body is covered with bristle-bearing tubercles with a white ring border. The length of an adult caterpillar is 28–35 mm.
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The cocoon is cylindrical, dense, silky. Length 20–70 mm. Width 3–4 mm. The outside is covered with lumps of earth. At the top there is a slit-like hole intended for the butterfly to exit.
Habitat
Night moths live in almost all corners of the globe, both on continents and on oceanic islands. The only exception is Antarctica, where the climate is too harsh for these gentle creatures. Most often, moths can be found at night near the place where there are food plants suitable for a particular species.
By the way, not only what the moth eats depends on its habitat, but also how long it lives. In regions with cold and temperate climates, insects often live shorter lives than in the tropics, although life expectancy is primarily determined by species. The presence of natural enemies also affects this period. Among those who eat moths:
- birds;
- insect predators;
- insectivores.
Moths can be found not only on the plains, but also in the mountains. Insects can exist at altitudes of up to several thousand meters above sea level.
Monitoring
In the south of the country, the pest develops in three to four generations. To predict the appearance of the first generation, the number of overwintering pests in the fields is assessed. To do this, soil excavations are carried out in autumn and spring. Cocoons found in soil are examined in a laboratory to determine whether they are alive. The number of pests is estimated per square meter, at a depth of 10 cm.
The number of flying pests is determined using a net - 10 steps, 10 strokes. Monitoring must be carried out every three days. The presence of oviposition is also assessed. To do this, five plants are considered in 20 places on a field of 100 hectares diagonally.
In the same way, the presence of pest caterpillars is subsequently assessed.
Monitoring the number of pests is also recommended in the presence of thickets of weeds, virgin and fallow vegetation adjacent to the field.
What do moths eat in the wild?
There are many varieties of lepidoptera, the adults of which do not eat at all. Their vital activity is supported by nutrients that were accumulated at the caterpillar stage.
Other moths feed on:
- nectar;
- overripe fruits;
- plant juice;
- honey.
Rare species consume the tears and blood of certain animals, as well as their excrement and sweat.
If you breed moths at home, you can prepare a nectar substitute. It can be any sweet liquid. The easiest way is to dilute a little sugar, honey or jam in water. Ripe juicy fruits are also suitable.
Features of color
Adults and caterpillars of night moths have two color options:
- patronizing;
- warning.
The protective coloration allows insects to camouflage themselves perfectly in the surrounding space, becoming invisible. Some species have become fantastically adept at blending into the background. For example, a moth can get lost among the foliage or become almost invisible against the background of tree bark. Caterpillars take the form of twigs, twigs, flowers, and merge with bark, pine needles or stones.
Caterpillar
Warning coloring is brighter. It either scares away potential enemies, or, on the contrary, attracts their attention. In the second case, the insect demonstrates that it has some kind of protective means. This may be a caustic secretion secreted by the glands or burning hairs covering the body.
Sense organs
Moths have the following sense organs in their arsenal:
- olfactory organs;
- organs of vision;
- organs of hearing.
The olfactory organs are wedge-shaped or pineal-shaped outgrowths located on the antennae. Communication with the nervous system is ensured by sensory cells that are located in the deeper layers of the skin and connect to the branches of the nerves. Butterflies have a very delicate sense of smell. It is this that allows them to find food or mating partners even at great distances.
The organs of vision are represented by two large compound eyes, consisting of thousands of simple ocelli. Each of them perceives part of the image, so that in the end the insect perceives the picture in the form of a mosaic. Moths see objects that are nearby better than distant ones. But first of all, the eyes of lepidopterans are designed to move in space and register movements occurring nearby.
The hearing organs in most species are located on the chest or abdomen. The receptors are located in small depressions covered by a thin membrane. Under the influence of sound waves, the membrane vibrates, and information is transmitted to the nervous system.
Life cycle
Moth development occurs in four stages:
- egg;
- larva;
- chrysalis;
- imago.
After mating, the female lays eggs. Depending on the species, the insect either lays eggs on a food plant or lays eggs on the ground or on another chosen object, and some species simply shoot eggs without caring where they land.
Larvae-caterpillars emerge from the eggs. They immediately begin to actively feed and grow quickly. During development, the larvae go through from 4 to 40 molts, after which they form a cocoon around themselves from a silk thread secreted by a special gland and turn into a pupa.
Inside the pupa, the caterpillar transforms into a moth. When the process is completed, the insect secretes a caustic substance that corrodes the walls of the cocoon and climbs out.
The life of an adult moth most often lasts several weeks, but depending on the species, the duration varies from several days to 3-4 months.
Mineral salt diet for offspring
It is worth noting that salt and minerals are especially important for males during the mating period. Without these elements, the mating season may not produce offspring. However, butterflies are able to replenish their reserves without feces or human sweat. In their absence, they obtain salt and minerals from dirt, the most common, for example, from puddles.
Food sources for nest boxes and habitats
These nutrients are transferred from male to female during the process of copulation. They make the eggs laid stronger and transmit the necessary genetic information
And this is very important. That is why in warm weather, when puddles dry up, many male butterflies of various species accumulate around the puddles and replenish their reserves of salt and minerals. A butterfly feeding station also ensures that more butterfly species visit your garden
You'll be amazed at how many different species there are in your area that you didn't know about. If you now feel like equipping your garden with such a feeding station, you can either buy a ready-made one or make it yourself. In this article, we have a simple guide through which you can make a perfect feed from a few items that you have mostly even in your home
A butterfly feeding station also ensures that more butterfly species visit your garden. You'll be amazed at how many different species there are in your area that you didn't know about. If you now feel like equipping your garden with such a feeding station, you can either buy a ready-made one or make it yourself. In this article, we have a simple guide through which you can make the perfect feed from a few items that you have mostly even in your house.
Types of moths
There are many varieties of moths, the main types of nocturnal ones are listed below:
- moths are small moths, the distinctive feature is that the wings folded at rest look like a triangle;
- true moths - representatives of the species are one of the smallest moths;
- hawk moths are most often large butterflies with a massive body;
- glass moths - these small moths have almost transparent wings;
Glassware
- moths - small moths, most species are pests;
- fingerwings are small butterflies with fringes on the edges of their wings;
- peacock eyes - large moths with a beautiful pattern on the wings;
- moths - small moths with a slender body and wide wings;
- she-bears are medium and large moths, the color can be white or multi-colored;
- moths - butterflies with dull plumage, caterpillars are brightly colored;
- leaf rollers are small butterflies, mainly pests of cultivated and wild plants;
- bagworms - females are wingless, males are small with dark wings;
- Owls are small, inconspicuous butterflies.
Most of these butterflies can be classified as pests.
Armyworm on sunflower
The description should begin with the fact that of the entire family of cutworms, the greatest damage to agricultural land is caused by cotton, field, alfalfa and wormwood cutworms. The vast majority of varieties develop up to three generations.
For reference! There are about 35,000 species (potentially up to 100,000) and 4,200 genera known in the world within the broadly understood family Noctuidae (Owls). The classification of this family is in its infancy, so the same butterfly is sometimes called differently.
For the purposes of this article, the armyworm is a sagebrush species of butterfly. It is this that harms sunflower fields to a greater extent. In addition, in the southern regions, cotton bollworm often appears on sunflowers. The measures to combat them are similar.
The first generation of the cutworm develops to a greater extent on weeds and is not so harmful due to its small quantity. The most damage to seedlings and adult plants is caused by the second and third generations, which, under favorable weather conditions, develop in late July - early August.
Considering that during the growing season of plants the number of cutworms increases significantly just in time for the period of formation of the sunflower basket, the damage from this insect is sometimes catastrophic. The danger of the insect is that it feeds on the juice of the sunflower, as well as its soft tissues. If the necessary measures are not taken, the plants will die.
The pest is most widespread in the southern part of Ukraine. The cutworm goes through several stages of its development - first eggs, then caterpillars and finally butterflies. The wingspan of an adult can reach 40 mm. The front wings are yellow and gray in color, while the hind wings have burgundy stripes and a dark spot in the very center.
Caterpillars reach up to 40 mm in length. The body is covered with numerous small spines. Color can vary from yellow and pale green to brown. The pupa overwinters in the ground.
What does a meadow moth look like?
The meadow moth is a moth. This is a small insect of gray-brown color, with a wingspan of 18 to 26 mm. The wings have a pattern of yellow stripes. The insect is a dangerous pest, affecting a large number of agricultural plants.
Reproduction nuances
After mating, the female lays eggs. During its life, a butterfly can lay up to 600 eggs. The laying is done on the underside of the leaves of the food plant. After 2–15 days, caterpillars emerge from the eggs. They immediately start eating and grow quickly. The caterpillar stage lasts from 10 to 30 days, after which the larva burrows into the ground and pupates. The insect spends from 7 to 35 days in the cocoon, and then the meadow moth is born.
Maliciousness
Meadow moth caterpillars feed on both cultivated and wild plants and weeds. Voracious pests cause damage to crops such as:
- sugar beet;
- buckwheat;
- alfalfa;
- perennial legumes;
- corn;
- peas;
- sunflower;
- potato;
- barley;
- wheat, etc.
Meadow moth caterpillar
With extensive infestation, the larvae can destroy the entire crop.
How to fight a moth?
Measures to combat the meadow moth differ little from methods of getting rid of other pests and include:
- agrotechnical measures (digging soil in autumn and early spring, removing weeds, hilling);
- biological methods (use of trichograms and biological products);
- chemical methods (use of insecticides).
You can add to the main control measures the manual collection of caterpillars and the use of folk remedies.
Maliciousness
The meadow moth is a broad polyphagous species. Caterpillars are harmful. Among cultivated plants, it primarily harms sugar beets. The pest's food plants include hundreds of plant species from 35 families. Prefers goosefoot and Compositae. It also develops on swan and Chernobyl at low temperatures.
Economic threshold of harmfulness
For sugar beets it is determined twice a season:
- In spring - in the shoots phase (closing leaves), it is established when 10–15 caterpillars per 1 m2 are detected in wet spring and 5 caterpillars per 1 m2 in dry spring.
- In summer – installed when 10–20 caterpillars are detected per 1m2 and 10% of the leaves are damaged.
In corn, the economic threshold of harmfulness is determined in two phases:
Why do butterflies strive for light?
Very often on a summer evening you can see clouds of insects swarming around a lit lamp or a burning fire. Among those who fly into the light, and often die in the flames or sitting on hot glass, there are many night moths.
Today, there are several versions of why moths fly into the light, and scientists cannot decide which one is the most likely.
As you know, light is a guide for insects. They use it to determine where to move, no matter whether the moon or a street lamp is shining.
Another version is that since butterflies usually still focus on global sources, for example, the light of the sun or other celestial bodies, the movement of the insect does not in any way affect the distance to the star, and, accordingly, the brightness of the light. If a moth flies into the light of a lamp, then as it approaches the light source it becomes disoriented and can no longer get out of the illuminated circle.
Peacock-eye Atlas
It is worth noting that female Atlas Peacock-eyes are much larger than males. Individuals feed on leaves of bushes and trees. And like previous record holders, they lead a nocturnal lifestyle. They are especially active during twilight, early morning and late evening, which is why they received the nickname “Prince of Darkness.” And the best way to observe the largest butterflies in the world is not in person, but in photographs. However, residents of Russia can see the beauty without leaving the country - Atlas Peacock-Eyed is bred in the Moscow Zoo.
By the way, the Atlas Peacock-eye species itself is quite interesting. During mating periods, a male can detect a female at a distance of up to several kilometers. And the mating itself lasts several hours without interruption. Immediately after emerging from the pupa, both the male and female are ready to reproduce. Peacock-eyes are unusually patient; females can wait for their male for several hours, while sitting motionless in one place, while the male will look for her at this time. And it is precisely this process, that is, reproduction, that is the meaning of life for the largest butterfly in the world. By the way, the life of a female is quite short. She dies immediately after laying offspring.
By the way, in Taiwan, Peacock Eyes without knowing it benefit people. People use caterpillar cocoons as wallets.
The largest butterfly in the world amazes with its beauty. The winged individual can be colored in bright red, yellow, pink and brown shades. And on each wing of the butterfly there are large triangular transparent “windows”. The front wings have a rather bizarre curved edge, which in shape and color resembles a snake's head. This is what the Peacock Eye scares away insectivorous animals. By the way, in Hong Kong, for this unusual feature, Atlas was nicknamed “The Moth - the head of a snake.”
In addition to its size, Peacock-Eyes has one more feature - its mouth is completely atrophied. Throughout its short life (only 1-2 weeks), the butterfly does not feed on anything, but processes all the fat reserves that it accumulated as a caterpillar.
By the way, the caterpillars of the giant butterfly are also huge - they grow up to 10 centimeters in length. And their appearance is original - they are light green in color with large blue processes throughout the body, which are covered with a waxy white coating (similar to powder).
Peacock-eye Atlas is not only a beautiful, but also a useful butterfly. In India, it is bred on special farms where fagar silk is obtained. It differs from the silkworm product in its wooliness, strength and durability.
Benefits and harms
The main benefit of moths is that they pollinate plants. Sitting on a flower to drink nectar, the insect stains its paws with pollen, and then transfers it to other plants.
As for harm, adult moths cause it only by laying eggs, from which larvae hatch after a short time. It is the caterpillars that are pests and cause serious damage to wild plants, agricultural crops, and some types of grain and vegetable stocks in storage, food and things in houses and apartments.
Yet the vast majority of caterpillars feed on plants, destroying leaves, shoots, bark, roots and even wood.
Crop protection system
Measures protecting agricultural crops from damage caused by the meadow moth and its larvae must take into account the destruction of both local individuals developing in the field and emerging butterflies from outside.
Developing local pests are best destroyed using agrotechnical measures, supplemented with chemical and biological preparations. The vagrant meadow moth on corn and other crops is mainly exterminated by chemical means.
In order to make the right decision regarding the measures to be applied, periodic assessment of the phytosanitary situation is necessary. It is best to do this in the fall, during the period of field survey, and again during the flight of butterflies. During the period of mass reproduction, the ecological situation and population size of the meadow moth should be carefully monitored.
High fertility of females occurs when environmental conditions are as close as possible to ideal for this type of parasite: hot daytime temperature (about 25º C), good air humidity (more than 65%), periodic rains and a lot of nectar plants.
During the egg-laying period, it is advisable to constantly weed and mow weeds, as well as loosen the soil between the rows to reduce the number of eggs laid. If the flight of adult individuals exceeds 5 pieces per step, the use of insecticidal and biological compounds is necessary.
