Potato moth is a very insidious, inconspicuous and quiet pest. During the growing season, its larvae feed on the ground part of plants, and after harvesting, when, it would seem, everything is already behind, they are able to destroy almost all grown potatoes in storage. While the Colorado potato beetle has already become a familiar evil over the past half century, many rural residents and garden owners still do not know anything about the potato moth in the middle lane. Considering that this parasite is becoming more common, information about what a potato moth is will not be superfluous. Control measures, including during storage, also need to be known in order to protect the crop of potatoes we love so much.
Pest Homeland
Potato moth, or fluorimea, is as exotic as the Colorado potato beetle. This couple, so fond of plants of the nightshade family, comes from Central and South America. Fluorimea is a heat-loving insect, howeverthis pest has already spread to all continents. It is increasingly common in the south of Russia - in the Crimea, the Rostov region and the Krasnodar Territory, so gardeners and farmers from these regions have managed to find out what the potato moth is, and they are already familiar with the measures to combat it.
If the temperature in vegetable stores does not drop below 10 ºС in winter, the conditions are quite suitable for the life and reproduction of such a pest as potato moth. Control measures during the storage of vegetables with this pest, which is why it is also very relevant. Although the tropics are the original native climate for this insect, it turns out that it adapts well in temperate latitudes. Depending on climatic conditions, two to eight generations of moths can develop per season.
Appearance
To fight a parasite, you need to know what it looks like. The potato moth butterfly is a small insect, with a wingspan of about 15 mm. It is nondescript, and, unlike the same Colorado potato beetle, does not attract attention at all, with gray wings with dark specks, with long antennae. The hind wings are decorated with a long light fringe. Complicating the matter is the fact that the activity of the moth falls on the dark time of the day. But, disturbing the potato bushes during the day, you can see how small butterflies take off, circle over the tops and again sit on the leaves and stems, merging with them.
Butterfly eggs are very small, and for this reason theyalso hard to notice. One female lives from several days to 3-4 weeks, and during this period she can lay up to 200 eggs. The caterpillars of this pest are naked, dirty cream or greenish in color (depending on whether they feed on tubers or leaves), and are about 10 mm long. The pupae are also small, within half a centimeter. Here, perhaps, everything you need to know about what a potato moth looks like. Control measures, folk remedies, without which not a single gardener can do and which are quite effective against pests and safe for people at the same time, will be discussed below.
Signs of potato infection
How do you know if a potato is infected? First, the parasite infects the ground part of the plant. There is a so-called mining of leaves and stems of the ground part of the potato, that is, gnawing passages in plant tissues. In places of penetration and in the passages themselves, the larvae leave excrement. The insect also leaves obvious signs of infection on potato tubers: passages are made under the skin, inside the root crop can be completely eaten away.
Only potatoes suffer from moths, but also other nightshades: tomato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco, and wild representatives of this family, including nightshade, dope, physalis. It is better to get rid of weeds belonging to nightshade in time. The parasite penetrates into potato tubers through eyes or small lesions, into tomatoes or eggplants through the stalk. And one larvacan completely spoil the fruit, and sometimes there are almost a dozen of them in vegetables and tubers, and then, eaten from the inside, they literally turn into dust.
Now, knowing what kind of pest - potato moth, control measures for storage and cultivation of nightshade crops will undoubtedly be interesting.
How to get rid of Fluorimea
If a garden plot is infested with a pest such as potato moth, control measures should initially be to use he althy seed material, deep digging of the soil in both autumn and spring. It is better to plant potatoes as early as possible, using its early varieties, which are practically not damaged by uninvited guests. Planting depth also matters. It is worth either planting potatoes deeper than usual, or in the process of growth, regularly hill them high, preventing the tubers from being exposed.
Harvest as soon as possible and before the tops turn yellow and dry, and the pest moves from the "tops" to the "roots". It is better to pre-mow the ground part of the plant a week in advance. If tops or fruits affected by moths are found, they must be burned, and not thrown away. Potatoes should be taken out of the field within 24 hours, otherwise the butterflies, which have an amazing sense of smell, can find it even under cover and populate it with eggs.
Fluorimea control drugs: pesticides
Widely used to destroy such a harmful insect as potato moth, control measures. drugs (both chemical andand biological) are popular with gardeners. Moreover, since the first potato moth butterflies appear almost simultaneously with the overwintered individuals of the Colorado potato beetle, it is possible to direct efforts to combat these pests at the same time, since the means that destroy the beetle are also effective against moths. We are talking about such drugs as Arrivo, Decis, Inta-VIR, Sherpa and others.
You need to do the processing at the beginning of summer, you should not wait until the butterflies lay their eggs and voracious larvae appear. After two weeks, the treatment must be repeated. At the end of August, the Colorado potato beetle no longer poses a danger, but the number of potato moths is maximum, so the fight against fluorimea is of decisive importance during this period. It is important to remember that it is not recommended to treat with the same insecticide more than 2-3 times, and the last treatment should be carried out no later than 20 days before harvest.
Folk remedies against potato moth
If we are not talking about pesticides, but about folk remedies for combating potato moths, we can advise all the same remedies that have proven themselves well over many decades of difficult struggle with the Colorado potato beetle. This is a solution of ash with laundry soap, a decoction of wormwood or onion peel. However, these methods, of course, are not as effective as the use of special preparations, and in the conditions of a farm or potato production on an industrial scale, they are not applicable at all.
Biologicals
Noforget about biological means of combating potato moths. As a rule, these are toxins, the effect of which is to damage the digestive tract and disrupt the digestive process of pests, but they can also have a paralyzing effect on parasites. Mention may be made of such agents as Bitoxibacillin, Kinmiks, Lepidocid, Entobacterin and others. The good thing about biologicals is that they degrade quickly without endangering the he alth of humans and animals.
Potato moth. Control measures in storage
Having removed the potato harvest in storage, you should not relax at all. The pest that got there along with the tubers can perfectly continue its development there, and the damaged tubers rot, so that losses can reach 80%. To prevent potato moth from destroying the entire crop, storage control measures must continue to be applied.
First of all, before planting, potatoes can be treated with the biological preparations already mentioned above using sprayers. But if the temperature in the storage is within 3-5ºС and does not rise higher, then there is nothing to worry about - this mode will not allow the pest to develop and damage the tubers, but the pupae can overwinter, so if there is any doubt, it is better to treat the potatoes with bacterial preparations before planting. The pest dies, regardless of the stage of its development, if the ambient temperature drops below -4 ºС.
It is worth subjecting to some processing and the room itself: cellar, basement or storage, includingthe container in which the potatoes are supposed to be stored. In order not to develop potato moth, control measures during storage of folk remedies include, for example, whitewashing the room with quicklime. As for chemicals, smoke bombs are widely used to get rid of pests.
Conclusion
Now that the potato moth is known to exist, storage control measures, photos of butterflies, larvae and pupae are information that will help homeowners be prepared for the attack and save the potato crop.
Generally speaking, quarantine measures are necessary to prevent mass infection with fluorimea: regular inspection of potatoes in storage using pheromone traps, a ban on the import of nightshade crops from infected areas. This will ensure timely localization and elimination of foci of pest spread.
