The cherry fly is one of the worst pests of fruit trees. Such an insect lays eggs in the berries of cherries and cherries. When the larvae emerge from the eggs, they are taken to eating the pulp. As a result, pits and spots form on the fruits, as a result of which the fruits crumble and rot.
What does such a pest look like?
It is not very difficult to distinguish a cherry fly from an ordinary one, as it is a tiny insect about 3-5 mm in size, which has a dark brown body and 4 black transverse lines on transparent wings. The head, paws and shield of the fly are dark yellow, and the eyes are green.
Time for fly activity
Such an individual takes off from May to June. In southern places - about a decade earlier. The insect starts flying away when the earth is already warm enough, and the air temperature is above +18 degrees. Flies are most active in sunny and hot weather.
After 1-2 weeks, the cherry fly after emergence is taken for laying eggs in ripening and green berries (1 egg per fruit). After 7-10 days, light worm-like larvae appear from the eggs. For 15-20 days they eat the pulp of berries, managing to molt 2 times during this period, then leavefruits and pupate in the ground in a depth of 2-5 cm. During the numerous formation of the pest, the fruits of the cherry deteriorate by 30%, and the sweet cherry - by 50-60%.
Insect Development
The exit phase of the cherry fly larvae from the false cocoon occurs in the spring. Her color is orange-gray, and she practically does not move. 4-5 hours after birth, the pest acquires a natural color, dries up, opens its wings and takes off on the foliage. In the southern conditions of European countries, insect departure lasts from May to July. First, males appear, and after 4-5 days - already females. A special diet for flies is obtained from the juices of ripe berries and wound secretions from leaves, which lasts 12-14 days.
Copulation time
It falls on warm weather conditions, where the temperature is not less than +18 degrees, if it is below +15, then cherry pests become less mobile, do not mate, and also do not lay eggs. If the weather is warm but cloudy, insects are also inactive and try to hide on the surface of the earth or at the bottom of the leaf plate.
Egg laying procedure
The female lays her eggs in the ripe fruits of the fodder crop. The process itself takes 4-5 minutes. She studies the berry, then lays the eggs in it and introduces them deep into the body with uniform movements. As soon as the ovipositor is started, the female calms down and, collecting her belly, displaces the egg. On unripe fruits, the place of oviposition is hardly noticeable, and it looks like a dot. The female herself lives for about a month and lays up to150 eggs.
Completion of fly development
The pupa is revealed inside the false cocoon after 5-6 days after the deepening of the larva into the ground. In such an arrangement, the pest hibernates. The predominant mass of false cocoons is located within the boundaries of the crown projection. The formation of the pupa occurs in the soil with an increase in temperature (up to +10 degrees) and at a depth of 5 cm.
Cherry fly: control measures
There are many ways to protect your garden from dangerous pests like flies.
It is better to plant early varieties of cherries and cherries. Berries of such varieties deteriorate less, because by the time they are harvested, insects do not yet have time to start laying eggs. Medium and late varieties of cherries are damaged much more severely.
In all seasons, with the exception of winter, it is necessary to properly loosen the earth in the near-stem circle under cherry and cherry crops. With this simple method, you can significantly reduce the number of pests.
How to deal with cherry fly? What other ways exist? If the infection with such insects in the garden is large, then you will have to use insecticides for spraying. At least 2 treatments should be done. The first spraying is carried out at the beginning of the numerous departure of cherry flies, when the soil is already warm enough and the air temperature is above +18 degrees.
You can recognize the mass departure of the pest by the flowering of acacia. At this point, it is important to spray the ground from where insects appear. There isan option for using yellow glue baits that can be hung on trees. They are also easy to make with your own hands: stick light yellow paper on cardboard and apply ALT glue on top of the yellow tone (it is used against mice, as well as in hunting belts). If there are more than 20 individuals in the traps, this will mean that the numerous departure of pests has already begun, and the fight against the cherry fly is urgently needed.
Secondary spraying is required after 10-15 days, but no later than 14 days before harvest. To treat a cherry tree, you can use any insecticide that can cope with flying insects, such as Karate, Iskra, Aktara, Lightning and others. When re-working, it is necessary to change the means so that the flies do not get used to them. Also, do not forget to thoroughly wash the berries before using them for food, regardless of the processing.
At the stage of spraying the foliage of plants, the soil around them should also be treated, because there is also a cherry fly.
If the fight with the use of chemistry is not suitable, then you can use folk remedies. As soon as the heat comes, the cherries will fade, you will need to take a sweet liquid of your choice (honey water, kvass, beer or compote), pour it into jars or cut plastic bottles and hang them on trees. 4-5 jars will be enough for one plant. It is only better to hang them correctly throughout the crown of the cherry culture. The mixture in the vessels begins to ferment, and all pests flock to this smell. You will need to monitor the containers, top upfresh liquid, as well as clean up caught insects.
It is necessary to try to carry out, if possible, a complete and quick picking of sweet cherries or cherries. If the process is carried out in several stages, the cherry fly will be able to spoil all other uninfected fruits. When harvesting, even single berries should not be kept on plants. The larvae of such a pest can also be born in them.
After the full harvest, you need to remove all the carrion under the crops, eliminate it from the site or bury it half a meter deep. This method can eliminate the penetration of new larvae into the ground and their pupation there.
It will also be necessary to neutralize the cherry aphid, because cherry pests feed on its sweet secretions. In parallel with aphids, it will be necessary to fight garden ants. They also use its secretions and settle down on the young branches of plants. Under the trees, you can plant something that repels flies, such as marigolds or marigolds. It would also be nice to spray cherries by collecting tobacco leaves, a decoction of wormwood, or laundry soap diluted in water (it is added so that the liquid sticks to the leaves better).
In early spring or late autumn, deep digging up of the soil near the trunk circles of crops up to 20-25 cm should be done. So the cherry fly on a sweet cherry or cherry will not be able to winter and create pupae.
