How to deal with the bark beetle on fruit trees

Growing fruit trees on a plot is not as simple as it may seem. Caring for the garden includes, among other things, protecting it from various pests, a huge amount of which every year tries to attack trees, destroying both the crop and the plantings themselves. Many pests dream of settling in our gardens, but one of the most dangerous pests is the bark beetle, which feeds on wood but does not damage the fruit. The fight against the bark beetle is so important because it not only bites the branches, but leads the tree to complete death.

What is a bark beetle

This pest has several names. Not all of them correspond to its biological name, but most often different species bark beetle "Rake" into a heap, calling them: cough, apple bark beetle, plum bark beetle, woodworm, sapwood and the like. All insects of this family have an incredibly developed sense of smell. An adult can smell the right tree from a distance of a kilometer.

Before you look for suitable measures to combat bark beetles, it is worthwhile to find out how the occupation of garden trees occurs. The female pest, falling on a tree (insects prefer weakened specimens), gnaws on the bark, makes moves of various lengths, in each of which leaves eggs. At the same time, it introduces into the thickness of the wood spores of the fungus Monilia Candida, which begin to actively grow and multiply. The larvae, hatched in the done moves, continue the work begun by the mother and eat the wood further, expanding the moves. The bark beetle caterpillars feed on the tissues and juices of the tree. With an increase in the network of moves, more damage to the vessels of the tree occurs, as a result, it weakens. Gradually, insects go through the stages of larvae and pupae, turning into an adult beetle, which remains under the bark for the whole winter.

Interesting!

With the onset of spring, the beetles begin to mate, after which they leave their passages and move to neighboring trees. In one season, one parent and several sister generations of the bark beetle develop. If the surrounding conditions are favorable, the amount of the pest increases exponentially. This speed suggests that the fight against the bark beetle should be started at the moment when the first individuals have already been discovered.

What harm do beetles cause to fruit trees

In total, scientists know more than 750 species of bark beetles. Of these, almost one and a half hundred species live in Europe. They are smaller in size - up to a centimeter in length. Exotics can exceed 1.5 cm.

These insects inflict damage to park and garden trees very seriously, therefore, the fight against the bark beetle must be serious, full-fledged, especially during outbreaks of the population.

The damage caused by bark beetles to trees is very great. Moreover, not only the beetles themselves damage the plants, but also the fungus that the female brings. Larvae of beetles, damaging the ducts of moisture and nutrients, weaken the plant, while fungi grow and destroy the tree.

In recent years, a typographer has been increasingly found in our country - a species of bark beetle that caused huge damage in most of the regions.

How to detect the presence of bark beetle

When planning measures to combat bark beetles, you should pay attention to some signs by which you can understand whether trees in the garden are infected or while preventive measures can be dispensed with.

• You should pay attention to the birds that inhabit the garden. If the woodpecker is often heard, the percentage of living in the fruit trees of the bark beetle is high. You need to start fighting it immediately.
• It is necessary to inspect the trunk. If small round or oval holes are found in the cortex, this indicates the presence of not only the beetles themselves, but also of their offspring.
• If gum streaks are visible on the stone species of the tree, it can be assumed that this occurs from the holes made by the beetle. If you do not start the fight against bark beetle on fruit trees at this stage, you can lose the garden.

  

• When examining a tree, small sawdust is visible? If it is brown dust, then the bug has just begun its journey into the thickness of the tree. If the sawdust is light, then he is already nibbling the wood. Very often after the detection of this symptom, barbel will be noticed on the pome.

Important!

In the last stage of occupation, foliage falls. At the same time, the crown dries and weakens. At this moment, a decisive blow to the bark beetle is needed.

Ways of struggle and prevention

Having discovered the symptoms of infection by a pest, you need to find out all ways to combat the bark beetle in order to get rid of it as soon as possible. It should be prepared for the fact that the struggle will be long, because the enemy must be completely destroyed, including the one that is still in the eggs. You can use both folk remedies and chemicals.

• To understand how to deal with the bark beetle and whether this makes sense, it is necessary to assess the degree of damage. If the tree looks healthy, a small number of holes are found in the bark, if it is difficult to pierce the bark with a knife, you can try to save the plant. If the bark easily leaves in layers, if the passages are numerous, the disease and wilting of the tree are noticeable - the struggle is meaningless. It is urgent to cut the tree and immediately burn it so that the larvae do not have time to turn into adult insects and fly to neighboring trees. After cutting the stumps uproot and burn. Combustion is preferably done off site.
• If after an assessment it is concluded that the tree can be saved, it is urgently necessary to process it from bark beetles. First of all, it is worth buying funds in the fight against bark beetles that are used for injection. These are "Antizhuk", "Calypso", "Confidor", "Antishashelin", "Empire-20" and the like. Using a syringe, drugs are injected into the beetle moves up to four times (after each time it is necessary to wait for absorption). After the procedure, the entrances are covered with garden varieties.
  

  

• If there are weak, diseased trees on the site. They are also best removed, since it is their bark beetles that are most often chosen for settlement.
• Bark beetle treatment is especially effective in spring, after flowering. Spray the crown and trunks, making a gap of 2 - 2, 5 weeks. Double processing.
• In summer, traps are recommended. For this, fresh saw cuts are placed around the perimeter of the garden. Attracted by the aroma of wood, females will fly to lay their eggs here. At the end of summer, all saw cuts are collected and burned. This method is especially effective in combination with the spring treatment of fruit insecticide.
• Prevention can be called the barrier method: the trunk and thick branches are coated with a substance made of clay, humus. Instead of humus, you can use slaked lime and manure.

On a note!

In addition to the application of control methods, it is very important to heal the garden, to ensure that the trees are strong and healthy. Only good care and close attention will help get rid of the pest on fruit trees.

It is worth knowing that a bark beetle can also be found in a wooden house. Fighting him in the house is also necessary.as in the case of trees, only in this case is something more at stake.The means of control should be chosen so as to stop the destructive activity of the bark beetle as soon as possible.