What are the control methods for the peach fruit borer on jujube trees?
Also known as the peach borer moth and peach spotted borer moth, it is an omnivorous pest distributed throughout the country. Its larvae damage the fruits or seeds of many plants such as winter jujube, peach, plum, persimmon, chestnut, apple, pear, pomegranate and hawthorn. When the fruit is damaged, it becomes filled with insect droppings, causing rot, and in severe cases the impact on both yield and quality is very great.
The peach fruit borer has omnivorous feeding habits and a long occurrence period, and in areas with multiple host plants it often shifts to cause damage. In the north it has 2 generations per year, in the Huang-Huai region 3~4 generations, and in the Yangtze River basin 4~5 generations. In Shandong, the 2nd and 3rd generation larvae cause the most serious damage to pomegranate, jujube, winter jujube and peach, while the 2nd generation damages sunflowers, corn and various fruits. It overwinters as mature larvae. In North China, the overwintering generation adults emerge in May of the following year, resting quietly in shaded spots during the day, and at night they are phototactic and mate and lay eggs from 8~10 p.m. The eggs are mainly laid in the calyx, 1~6 eggs, laid singly and scattered. Newly hatched larvae mostly bore into the fruit from within the calyx or from concealed places such as clustered fruits and leaves pressed against the fruit. According to surveys, 0% bore into the fruit from the calyx tip. The larvae have the characteristic of shifting to alternate hosts. After the larvae mature, they mostly form long oval white silk cocoons inside the damaged fruit, between fruits, or in bark crevices, and pupate inside the cocoon.
Eliminate overwintering larvae. In early spring scrape the bark and plug tree holes. Promptly dispose of sunflower heads, corn, sorghum and other crop residues to eliminate overwintering larvae and reduce the source of infestation. Pick up fallen fruit and remove damaged fruit, compost them in a concentrated pile, and use black light traps to kill adults.
During the adult occurrence period and peak egg-laying period, spray 50% phoxim 1000-fold solution, or 50% dichlorvos emulsion 1200-fold solution, or use pyrethroid pesticides. At the early stage of 1st generation larval hatching, spray 50% fenitrothion or 40% dimethoate emulsion 1200-fold solution, and spray once more after 1 week, with good results.
Use 50% phoxim or 20% Chinese-Western pyrethrum or 90% trichlorfon 0.5 kg plus soil 00-fold and about 10 g of water, mix into a medicinal mud, roll it into balls and plug the calyx tube; this not only controls the 1st generation larvae but can also control the 2nd and 3rd generation larvae, with an effective period of 70~80 days. Taking advantage of the peach fruit borer's strong tendency to lay eggs on sunflower heads, plant some sunflowers in the orchard; after they bloom they attract adults to lay eggs, and regular spraying eliminates them, while also trapping and killing the brown-winged green bug and the white-spotted beetle.