Moths caterpillars

Tree Preservation gypsy moths, caterpillars, borers, leaf miners, mites wounds from pmning or other damage to bark... 

Various nocturnal moth caterpillars are called cutworms. Soil-living larvae, they tend to be fat when fully grown, and will curl up in a "C" shape when disturbed. They may be brown, yellow, or green with dark markings. Cutworms feed at night, and can be found at almost any time of year, both outdoors and in the greenhouse. 

Feeny P. 1970. Seasonal changes in oak leaf tannins and nutrients as a cause of spring feeding by winter moth caterpillars. Ecology 51 565-581. 

Deltamethrin is a crystalline powder, white or slightly beige in color. The formulations include emulsifiable concentrates, wettable powders, ultra-low volume and flowable formulations, and granules. There are no known incompatibilities with other common insecticides and fungicides. It is used as a contact poison to control apple and pear suckers, plum fruit moths, caterpillars on brassicas, pea moths, aphids (apples, plums, hops), winter moths (apples and plums), and codling and tortrix moths (apples). It also is used in control of aphids, mealybugs, scale insects, and whiteflies on glasshouse cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, potted plants, and ornamentals.9-11... 

Braconid wasps parasitize leafroller caterpillars, codling moth caterpillars, leafminer caterpillars, mealy apple aphid, green apple aphid. 

Chalcidid wasps parasitize leafroller eggs and caterpillars, codling moth caterpillars, plum leafroller caterpillars, fruit tortricid caterpillars, San Jose scale, woolly aphids and small ermine moths. 

Bacillus thuringiensis is especially effective against winter moth caterpillars. 

Fig. 5.42. Tortrix moth caterpillar in the spring overwintering oaterpillars move up to the blossoms.

Fig. 5.46. Winter moth caterpillar moving with typical looping action.

ENEMIES. Birds, especially coal-tits, are important enemies of winter moth caterpillars. The feeding requirements of these birds at brood time are very high (300 caterpillars/day for the brood). Coal-tits are capable of keeping winter moth infestation below the damage threshold. 

INSPECTION AND DAMAGE THRESHOLD. Winter moth Caterpillars are detected by visual inspection, with 100 blossom clusters being examined. The damage threshold is 10-15% of blossom clusters infested. 

Disparlure, the sex pheromone of the female gypsy moth, has been used to control the spread of the gypsy moth caterpillar, a pest that has periodically devastated forests in the northeastern United States by defoliating many shade and fruit-bearing trees.The active pheromone is placed in a trap containing a poison or sticky substance, and the male moth is lured to the trap by the pheromone. Such a species-specific method presents a new way of controlling an insect population that avoids the widespread use of harmful, nonspecific pesticides. Disparlure is synthesized by oxidation of an alkene using chemistry presented in Chapter 12. 

In 1869, the gypsy moth was introduced into New England in an attempt to develop a silk industry. Some moths escapred into the wild and the population flourished. Mature gypsy moth caterpillars eat an average of one square foot of leaf surface per day, defoliating shade trees and entire forests. Many trees die after a single defoliation. 

Silk is a fibrous protein produced by several insect species. Commercially, silk is produced from the cocoon stage larvae of the moth caterpillar Bombyx mori, as it has been, in China, for some 4500 years. A single cocoon produces a continuous thread up to 1 km in length, and the protein fibroin contains large amounts of glycine, alanine, tyrosine, proline and serine The peptide chains are arranged in anti-parallel P-sheets which make up the hierarchical structure of the crystalline silk fibres. A number of spiders also produce silk webs, although the fibroin structure is rather different to that from silk worms. 

Eight-spotted forester moth caterpillars devouring poplar. JLM Visuals. Reproduced with permission. 

Protection Offered Use bands to protect trees, vines, and shrubs from ants, codling moth and gypsy moth caterpillars, cutworms, leaf beetles, snails and slugs, and other pests that make daily trips along the trunk. 

A wasp lays Its eggs on a gypsy moth caterpillar on the leaf of a corn plant. 

Estlander T, Jolanki R, Kanerva L (1997b) Occupational allergic contact dermatitis from 2,3-epoxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (EPTMAC) and Kathon LX in a starch modification factory. Contact Dermatitis 36 191-194 Estlander T, Kanerva L, Tupasela O, Jolanki R (1998) Occupational contact urticaria and type I sensitization caused by gerbera. Contact Dermatitis 38 118-120 Etkind PH, ODell TM, Canada AT, Shama SK, Finn AM, Tuthill R (1982) The gypsy moth caterpillar a significant new occupational and public health problem. J Occup Med 24 659-662 Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (1996) Finnish Register of Occupational Diseases, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki 1990-1996... 

Silks are produced by several insects, but only the silk of moth caterpillars has been usedfor textile manufacture. Silk fabric was first developed in ancient China, with some of the earliest examples found as early as 3,500 B.C. It was once one of the most valuable items of trade during the Middle Ages. Because of artificial fiber, silk is on the decline as fabric for clothes, but has other commercial uses such as, parachutes, comforter filling, and sutures. Sutures are made possible by a special manufacturing process that removes the outer irritant (sericin) coating of the silk. 

Silks are produced by several other insects, but only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. Silks are mainly produced by the larvae of insects. 

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