Control of fruit-piercing moths in mountain orchards must not be overlooked

The fruit-piercing moth is one of the common pests in orchards, and once this infestation occurs, the damage to fruit is quite severe. Therefore, controlling the fruit-piercing moth in mountain orchards is very important. Below, let us take a look at the key control points.

I. What is the fruit-piercing moth?

The fruit-piercing moth is a pest of fruit trees; the adults pierce and suck the juice of the fruit, causing the fruit to rot and drop. Besides damaging citrus, it also damages many other fruits such as apple, pear and grape. It is distributed in many countries and regions of Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia; there are about 100 or more species worldwide, and more than 50 species are known in China.

In China's citrus-producing areas, the fruit-piercing moth Oreogenes ancilla, the bird-beak fruit-piercing moth and the dead-leaf fruit-piercing moth are relatively widespread and serious.

The fruit-piercing moth Oreogenes ancilla. The adult is 16 to 19 mm long, with a wingspan of 34 to 40 mm. The body is brown, and the head is reddish brown. The forewings are brownish, with the middle of the outer margin protruding into a point; the middle of the inner margin is concave. The larva is about 38 mm long, pitch-black, and the body is often curved into a bridge shape. In the vast areas of Southeast and Central China, its occurrence often accounts for more than 70%.

The bird-beak fruit-piercing moth. The adult is 23 to 26 mm long, with a wingspan of 49 to 51 mm. The body is brown, and the head is reddish orange. The forewings are purplish brown, the wing tip is hooked, the middle of the outer margin is rounded and protruding, and the middle of the inner margin is deeply concave. The larva is grayish black with black stripes. The head is grayish brown. It walks in an arched bridge shape.

The dead-leaf fruit-piercing moth. The adult is about 40 mm long, with a wingspan of about 105 mm. The head and thorax are ochre-brown, and the abdomen is apricot-yellow. The forewings are dark brown like a dead leaf, with a dark brown diagonal line from the wing tip to the concave part of the rear margin. The hindwings are apricot-yellow, each with one arc-shaped and one kidney-shaped black spot. The larva is yellow-brown or gray-brown, with dark line markings, a reddish-brown head, and the front part of the body is often arched. It occurs more in Sichuan, and is also distributed in Japan.

II. Control methods for fruit-piercing moths in mountain orchards

1. Agricultural control

Plan the orchard rationally, develop as much as possible into large contiguous plantings, and try to avoid mixed planting of varieties with different ripening periods or of multiple fruit tree species.

In May to June, use herbicide spraying or manual weeding to thoroughly eliminate weeds and shrub thickets in the orchard and within a 1 km radius around it, lower the larval population density, and reduce hiding places for adults.

2. Physical control

Trapping and killing. Use black light lamps, high-pressure mercury lamps or frequency-vibration insect-killing lamps to trap and kill adults.

Bagging the fruit for protection.

Repellence. Use 5 to 10 sheets of absorbent paper per tree, drip 1 ml of citronella oil on each sheet, and hang them around the canopy in the evening; or wrap naphthalene balls (mothballs) in plastic film, prick several small holes, and hang 4 to 5 balls per tree, which can reduce the damage by fruit-piercing moths.

3. Manual control

During the fruit coloring stage, organize labor to go to the orchard after dusk to catch and kill adults.

4. Biological control

Artificially release Trichogramma around the orchard to parasitize the eggs of the fruit-piercing moth.

5. Chemical control

Before the fruit is half-ripe, use a sugar-vinegar solution (with a small amount of mildly scented insecticide appropriately added) to trap and kill adults;

Soak bananas or citrus fruit in insecticide (20-fold dilution of trichlorfon) to trap and kill adults;

At nightfall, spray 4.5% beta-cypermethrin emulsifiable concentrate or 2.5% lambda-cyhalothrin (Kung Fu) emulsifiable concentrate at 1 000 to 1 500-fold dilution; or dilute 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate with water at 1 000-fold and spray at night when the fruit-piercing moths are active.